APPLE shareholders rejected demands that the company disclose a succession plan for ailing chief Steve Jobs, and the company kept silent on how many had backed that proposal.

The reluctance to reveal details of the vote on a proposal by the Central Laborers’ Pension Fund raised speculation that a sizable contingent of shareholders may have supported it, and prompted an affiliated group to push for more disclosure.

“It appears likely that a large number of long-term, institutional shareholders voted in its favour,” the Laborers’ International Union of North America said in a statement following the meeting.

The fate of Apple, among the world’s most powerful technology companies, is tied to how the iPhone and iPad maker handles the eventual departure of its iconic co-founder and leader.

Mr Jobs took a third medical leave in January for unknown reasons, with many not expecting him to return to lead the company he founded in 1976.

But, in a rare show of activism for a group of investors often content with Apple’s sizzling growth and lofty share price, shareholders approved a proposal giving them a bigger say in appointing directors – against the company’s recommendation they reject the proposal.

About 74 per cent of votes cast favoured a proposal that unopposed candidates for the company’s board receive a majority of votes to win election, according to the fund.

The vote provided one of the few moments of drama at an event not attended by Mr Jobs.

Tim Cook, Mr Jobs’s top lieutenant, took the spotlight instead. Clad casually in jeans and a sweater, he appeared very much in command and deftly fielded questions on topics from Apple’s $60 billion cash pile to growing competition from the likes of Google in mobile and revenue-sharing on the iPad. – (Reuters)