eBay Vote Shows a Return to Complacency

With nary a question from investors about a management-enriching stock plan, eBay (EBAY Quote) concluded its annual shareholder meeting on Thursday in less than 40 minutes.

Almost as quickly, it seems, once-rabid investors have shelved their suspicions that generous benefits for top executives come at the expense of average shareholders. Last week's vote at eBay suggests that typical investors -- no matter how much they complained after the fact about abuses at Enron, WorldCom, Tyco(TYC Quote) and others -- still vote with their pocketbooks.

If a company's stock is rising, as eBay's surely is, shareholders aren't likely to rock the boat. Their restraint shows the limits of the corporate reform movement that followed a series of high-profile scandals and a long bear market on Wall Street. ...