Earlier today Nokia’s shareholders met in Finland to vote on the $7.17 acquisition deal made with Microsoft. The deal was approved by an overwhelming majority, 99.7 percent of the shareholders voted in favor. However, it appears that outgoing Nokia CEO Stephen Elop might have been the target of immense criticism at the meeting today. According to one of Finland’s oldest publications, Uusi Suomi, several shareholders were quite vocal in their criticism of Elop, some even described his reign as a “triple-A-flop.”
It didn’t end with just one remark, apparently, as Elop was also reportedly blamed for “the funeral of Nokia phones” and for putting the company itself on the “road to ruin.” The publication reports that matters got so heated during the meeting that the chairman Manne Airaksinen told shareholders present there to refrain from passing any person comment about Stephen Elop. This isn’t the first time that Elop has been criticized in Finland. The country’s press hasn’t been too fond of him particularly after he reportedly refused to accept anything less than the $25 million payday he’s entitled too, despite the fact that under Elop Nokia’s share price and market share dipped considerably. As the transaction closes by Q1, 2014, Elop will move to back to Microsoft where he’s apparently being considered for the CEO slot.
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