Activist Investor Who Wants To Cut P&G Jobs In Cincinnati Fails To Get Seat On Board

Hedge-fund manager and billionaire Nelson Peltz has reportedly lost his bid in a proxy battle to be elected to Procter & Gamble's board of directors. The outcome of the vote is of considerable concern to greater Cincinnati, since about 10,000 P&G workers are here.

Peltz, who heads Trian Fund Management, had envisioned a major reorganization of the consumer products giant, ultimately with only 1,000 employees working at corporate HQ, and some others reassigned to consolidated business units. Presumably that would have meant many fewer high-paying P&G jobs in the Cincinnati area, Cincinnati.com reported before the election.

Peltz's plans attracted a lot of attention locally, most of it negative. Mayor John Cranley, in the thick of running for re-election, urged shareholders not to vote for Peltz. Likewise, such organizations as the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, the Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. and REDI Cincinnati came out against Peltz.

According to the Regional Economic Development Initiative, three jobs would be lost from the local economy for every one P&G job disappearing in greater Cincinnati.

At P&G's annual shareholder meeting Tuesday, investors elected all 11 of the company's board nominees, with Peltz narrowly losing his bid for a board seat, according to preliminary totals, Forbes reports. The company will release the exact voting totals in the coming days.

There will be another vote for the board of directors in a year, which puts pressure on the winners of this week's vote to improve P&G returns over the next few quarters.