<SEC-DOCUMENT>0001096906-24-000148.txt : 20240201
<SEC-HEADER>0001096906-24-000148.hdr.sgml : 20240201
<ACCEPTANCE-DATETIME>20240201153324
ACCESSION NUMBER:		0001096906-24-000148
CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE:	PX14A6G
PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT:		1
FILED AS OF DATE:		20240201
DATE AS OF CHANGE:		20240201
EFFECTIVENESS DATE:		20240201

SUBJECT COMPANY:	

	COMPANY DATA:	
		COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:			Apple Inc.
		CENTRAL INDEX KEY:			0000320193
		STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION:	ELECTRONIC COMPUTERS [3571]
		ORGANIZATION NAME:           	06 Technology
		IRS NUMBER:				942404110
		STATE OF INCORPORATION:			CA
		FISCAL YEAR END:			0928

	FILING VALUES:
		FORM TYPE:		PX14A6G
		SEC ACT:		1934 Act
		SEC FILE NUMBER:	001-36743
		FILM NUMBER:		24586615

	BUSINESS ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		ONE APPLE PARK WAY
		CITY:			CUPERTINO
		STATE:			CA
		ZIP:			95014
		BUSINESS PHONE:		(408) 996-1010

	MAIL ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		ONE APPLE PARK WAY
		CITY:			CUPERTINO
		STATE:			CA
		ZIP:			95014

	FORMER COMPANY:	
		FORMER CONFORMED NAME:	APPLE INC
		DATE OF NAME CHANGE:	20070109

	FORMER COMPANY:	
		FORMER CONFORMED NAME:	APPLE COMPUTER INC
		DATE OF NAME CHANGE:	19970808

FILED BY:		

	COMPANY DATA:	
		COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:			Bowyer Research, Inc.
		CENTRAL INDEX KEY:			0001996368
		ORGANIZATION NAME:           	
		IRS NUMBER:				463874783
		STATE OF INCORPORATION:			PA
		FISCAL YEAR END:			1231

	FILING VALUES:
		FORM TYPE:		PX14A6G

	BUSINESS ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		6300 SMITHFIELD STREET
		CITY:			MCKEESPORT
		STATE:			PA
		ZIP:			15135
		BUSINESS PHONE:		412-751-8603

	MAIL ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		6300 SMITHFIELD STREET
		CITY:			MCKEESPORT
		STATE:			PA
		ZIP:			15135
</SEC-HEADER>
<DOCUMENT>
<TYPE>PX14A6G
<SEQUENCE>1
<FILENAME>bowy_px14a6g.htm
<DESCRIPTION>BOWYER RESEARCH - PX14A6G
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<DIV style=margin-left:72pt;width:468pt><P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0'><B>Summary</B></P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0'>Bowyer Research urges shareholders to vote AGAINST Proposal 6, on the 2024 proxy ballot of Apple, Inc. (&#8220;Apple&#8221; or the &#8220;Company&#8221;) The &#8220;Resolved&#8221; clause of Proposal No. 6 states:</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;margin-left:36pt'> Shareholders request Apple report on median pay gaps across race and gender, including associated policy, reputational, competitive, and operational risks, and risks related to recruiting and retaining diverse talent. The report should be prepared at reasonable cost, omitting proprietary information, litigation strategy and legal compliance information.</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0'>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0'>The supporting statement to this Proposal<SUP><A name=_ftnb1 /><A href=#_ftnf1><SUP>1</SUP></A></SUP>, submitted by Anmol Mehra of Arjuna Capital (the &#8220;Proponent&#8221;), contends that:</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;margin-left:36pt'><KBD style='position:absolute;font:12pt Times New Roman;margin-left:-18pt'>1.</KBD>Apple is best served by including &#8220;unadjusted median pay gaps, assessing equal opportunity to high paying roles,&#8221; in its shareholder disclosures.&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;margin-left:36pt'><KBD style='position:absolute;font:12pt Times New Roman;margin-left:-18pt'>2.</KBD>Apple&#8217;s failure to provide this degree of transparency is a potential barrier to the Company&#8217;s response to &#8220;structural bias&#8221; affecting women and minorities.&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;margin-left:36pt'><KBD style='position:absolute;font:12pt Times New Roman;margin-left:-18pt'>3.</KBD>Providing both unadjusted and adjusted median pay gaps is the best way for Apple to move forward in addressing pay inequities.&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;margin-left:36pt'>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0'><B>These assertions, however, are based on false argumentation and analysis that:</B></P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0'>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;margin-left:36pt'><KBD style='position:absolute;font:12pt Times New Roman;margin-left:-18pt'>1.</KBD>Overstates the extent to which unadjusted median pay gaps meaningfully reflect workplace disparities.&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;margin-left:36pt'><KBD style='position:absolute;font:12pt Times New Roman;margin-left:-18pt'>2.</KBD>Demands the Company expose itself to reputational risk by creating the appearance of racial and gender biases without cause.&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0'>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;margin-left:36pt'><KBD style='position:absolute;font:12pt Times New Roman;margin-left:-18pt'><B>1.</B></KBD><B>The Proponent overstates the extent to which unadjusted median pay gaps meaningfully reflect workplace disparities.</B>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0'>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0'>As asserted in the Proponent&#8217;s statement, &#8220;Apple reports only statistically adjusted gaps but ignores unadjusted gaps, which address structural bias women and minorities face</P>
<HR style=text-align:left;width:25%><P style='font:10pt Times New Roman;margin:0'><SUP><A name=_ftnf1 /><A href=#_ftnb1><SUP>1</SUP></A></SUP>https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320193/000130817924000010/laapl2024_def14a.pdf</P>
<HR style='page-break-after:always;border:0;height:3pt;background-color:#909090;margin:8pt 0'><P style=line-height:0;margin:0></P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0'>regarding job opportunity and pay.&#8221; The requested report, framed as an issue in keeping with the company&#8217;s commitments to pay equity and various diversity initiatives, would require Apple to provide data on pay comparisons that were unadjusted for relevant factors, such as different jobs held by different demographics. This, unsurprisingly, is a proposal that would provide Apple shareholders and employees with potentially misleading information. Withholding relevant factors from public-facing data is a choice devoid of any benefit for any corporation that values a reputation for being accurate and data-driven. There is no reason, outside of the insular demands of political and social activists, for Apple to provide data that does not provide an accurate picture of its parity (or disparity) within its pay structures.</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0'>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;margin-left:36pt'><KBD style='position:absolute;font:12pt Times New Roman;margin-left:-18pt'><B>2.</B></KBD><B>The Proposal demands the Company expose itself to reputational risk by creating the appearance of racial and gender biases without cause.</B>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0'>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0'>In its supporting statement, the Proponent maintains that &#8220;actively managing pay equity is associated with improved representation, and diversity is linked to superior stock performance and return on equity.&#8221; The Proponent provides zero evidence to suggest that unadjusted, inaccurate measures of pay between minority and non-minority employees are more effective at managing pay equity than properly adjusted measures. Further, providing shareholders and employees with inaccurate measures of pay presents a number of problems, both internally and externally. Externally, such measures can lead shareholders and the broader public to believe that Apple is perpetuating racial and gendered pay disparity, whereas, properly adjusted measures would avoid such suspicions. Internally, such measures can lead employees, particularly minority employees, to believe that they are the victims of workplace pay disparity, creating workplace polarization and a loss of corporate morale. Both of these outcomes can be avoided by voting against the misguided measures suggested in Proposal 6.</P>
<HR style='page-break-after:always;border:0;height:3pt;background-color:#909090;margin:8pt 0'><P style=line-height:0;margin:0></P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0'>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0'><B>Conclusion</B></P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0'>As demonstrated in this report, Proposal No. 6 fails to effectively address the question of pay disparity by:</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0'>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;margin-left:36pt'><KBD style='position:absolute;font:12pt Times New Roman;margin-left:-18pt'>1.</KBD>Overstating the extent to which unadjusted median pay gaps meaningfully reflect workplace disparities.&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;margin-left:36pt'><KBD style='position:absolute;font:12pt Times New Roman;margin-left:-18pt'>2.</KBD>Demanding the Company expose itself to reputational risk by creating the appearance of racial/gender biases without cause.&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0'>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0'>The hyper-political world of modern business requires a trust-but-verify mindset from shareholders. The Proponent&#8217;s ask would jeopardize Apple&#8217;s relationship of trust with its shareholders. In its misrepresentation of pay disparities and lack of concern for the reputational risk it would create, the Proponent runs the risk of creating further controversy and tangible risk to both Board and Company.</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0'>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0'>&nbsp;</P>
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