PROPOSAL 1
— ELECTION OF DIRECTORS
Information about our Board and the
Nominees
Our certificate of incorporation divides our Board into three
classes. The Board currently consists of 10 directors with three
directors in each of Classes I and II and four directors in
Class III.
The term of office of our current Class III directors expires
at the Annual Meeting. There are three Class III nominees
standing for election at the Annual Meeting.
The term of the Class III directors elected at the Annual
Meeting ends at the 2025 annual meeting of stockholders. The term
of the Class I directors ends at the 2023 annual meeting of
stockholders, and the term of the Class II directors ends at
the 2024 annual meeting of stockholders.
Proxies cannot be voted for the election of more than three persons
to our Board at the Annual Meeting.
Each nominee named in this proxy statement has consented to being
named in this proxy statement and to serve if elected. If any
nominee is unable to serve or for good cause will not serve, the
shares represented by the proxies will be voted for the person, if
any, designated by our Board to replace such nominee. However, CMC
has no reason to believe that any nominee will be unavailable. All
of the director nominees, as well as the continuing directors, plan
to attend this year’s Annual Meeting.
Changes to our Board During
2021
Mr. Kelson served as a Class III director on the Board
until his passing on February 13, 2021. Following
Mr. Kelson’s passing, the Board voted to reduce the number of
directors on the Board from ten to nine directors and to reduce the
number of Class III directors to three.
In connection with the Board’s succession planning, as well as to
fill the vacancy created by Mr. Kelson’s passing, the
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee initiated a search
process to select qualified director candidates. The Nominating and
Corporate Governance Committee took into account many factors
including, but not limited to, requirements for independence; the
individual’s general understanding of the various disciplines
relevant to the success of our Company as a large
globally-operated, publicly-traded company in today’s business
environment; each candidate’s understanding of the Company’s
businesses and the metals industry and markets; the individual’s
professional expertise and educational background; and the
individual’s ethics, integrity, values, inquisitive and objective
perspectives, practical wisdom, judgment and availability. When
evaluating potential director candidates, the Board and the
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee also believe it is
important to consider diversity of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual
orientation, age, education, cultural background and other factors
that promote diversity of thought, views and experience.
Selected candidates were evaluated and interviewed through a series
of meetings with directors and executive management. The Nominating
and Corporate Governance Committee evaluated potential candidates
in the context of the Board as a whole, with the objective of
recommending a director candidate that would be the most likely to
drive the success of the business and represent stockholder
interests through the exercise of sound judgment. A background
review of the ultimate candidate was conducted by an independent
professional agency specializing in the performance of such
background reviews.
As a result of this process, the Nominating and Corporate
Governance Committee selected Gary E. McCullough from a slate of
qualified candidates for election to our Board and recommended him
to our Board for appointment. On September 8, 2021, our Board
voted to increase the size of our Board from nine persons to ten
persons (and to increase the size of Class III from three to
four directors), and our Board appointed Mr. McCullough as a
Class III director, effective October 12, 2021.
On November 19, 2021, Mr. Joseph C. Winkler, a
Class II director and Lead Director, notified the Board that
he will retire at the Annual Meeting following nine years of
distinguished service to the Company.
Mr. Best, a Class III director, will also retire from the
Board at the Annual Meeting after 11 years of distinguished service
to the Company pursuant to the mandatory retirement policy in the
Company’s Corporate Governance Guidelines. Accordingly, the Board
has not nominated Mr. Best for reelection as a Class III
director.
Commercial Metals
Company 2022 Proxy
Statement 16