Dissident Group Loses Maxxam Vote

Dissident holders of Maxxam Inc. common stock garnered fewer votes but a higher percentage of the total cast at last week’s annual meeting.

The company’s slate of nominees for the board of directors - Robert Cruikshank, Stanley Rosenberg, and Michael Blumenthal - each received about 3.9 million votes. They serve one-year terms.

Abner Mikva and Paul Simon, the dissidents’ nominees, received 531,135 votes.

Ezra Levin and J. Kent Friedman also were elected to the board by common and preferred shareholders voting as a single class. They serve until the 2003 annual meeting.

Dissident proposals that would have required a more independent board and changed the way members are elected were also rejected.

Dissident spokesman Scott Adams said they drew fewer votes this year than last, when Mikva ran with Howard Metzenbaum, because Maxxam insiders own more shares now than they did then.

The percent of shares not held by insiders voted against the company’s nominees increased slightly, to 44 percent, he said.