Will shareholders object to such jumps in pay?

Campbell Soup rose 1 1/8, to 48 1/2, on reports that some major shareholders would not object to the sale or merger of the company.

The shareholders object because it would require them to accept the equivalent of a 42 percent discount.

What shareholders object to is not staggered boards themselves, but how staggered boards block takeovers.

But when reports of the proposal appeared, shareholders and regulators vehemently objected to the plan and pressed directors to reject it.

The board withdrew the proposal the day before the company's annual meeting last month, when shareholders discovered the plan and vehemently objected.

"It's possible the shareholders of Google might someday object, especially if we go into an economic depression and that money is needed to shore up the company."

But some shareholders still objected to such modernization and the issue simmered until 1991.

In these cases, shareholders can simply object to being identified as an owner and either instruct the brokerage how to vote or forfeit their vote.

Elsewhere, shareholders might object to the low returns that are the result of uncompetitive bids.