UNITED STATES

 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

 

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

SCHEDULE 14A

 

Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the Securities

Exchange Act of 1934 (Amendment No. )

 

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On March 12, 2015, the following information was posted on The Coca-Cola Company’s “Unbottled” Blog (www.coca-colacompany.com/coca-cola-unbottled/2015proxystatement) by Maria Elena Lagomasino, Chair of The Coca-Cola Company’s Compensation Committee, regarding the Company’s 2015 Proxy Statement. 

 

COCA-COLA BOARD MEMBER DISCUSSES 2015 PROXY STATEMENT

 

By: Maria Elena Lagomasino March 12, 2015

 

Dear Fellow Shareowners,

 

If you own shares in The Coca-Cola Company – or any company – you probably value these shares as you do each dollar in your bank account. As stewards of The Coca-Cola Company’s stock and as fellow shareowners, we share your appreciation for the current and future value of each share and are guided by this in every decision we make. This is why we welcome open dialogue with shareowners and consider all constructive feedback about compensation.

 

After hearing feedback from a number of you in the past year, we adopted enhancements to further link our compensation plans to the long-term interests of shareowners. In the Company’s proxy statement published today, you will see the outcomes of the steps we’ve taken. We encourage you to read it and let us know what you think.

I would like to point out a few things in particular:

 

	•	Last year, we adopted Equity Stewardship Guidelines, under which we committed to enhance transparency about equity awards and to use substantially fewer shares. Consistent with those guidelines, the value and number of shares underlying long-term equity awards granted to executives in February 2015 were significantly lower than last year.
	•	We adopted new metrics tied directly to our business strategy and improved “line of sight” for employees in business units, so that long-term incentive awards are tied more directly to results that employees can influence.
	•	In keeping with our fundamental principle that compensation programs should pay for performance, the Company’s 2014 performance directly impacted compensation with below-target annual incentives to executives and two recent performance share unit awards not expected to pay out.

 

You will also see that Muhtar Kent, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, respectfully requested to forgo any annual incentive award for 2014 in light of the difficult but necessary decisions being taken as the Company implements strategic actions to accelerate growth. The Compensation Committee respects Muhtar’s decision.

 

Our continued commitment to you is that we will encourage open dialogue with shareowners, welcome constructive feedback and approach compensation decisions with great care, mindful of our stewardship role. As always, thank you for the trust that you have placed in us to oversee the compensation programs of The Coca-Cola Company.

 

 

Maria Elena Lagomasino is the Chair of The Coca-Cola Company’s Compensation Committee. Ms. Lagomasino is the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner of WE Family