The recent deal to avoid a proxy fight gave two seats on the board of directors at Fisher Communications to nominees approved by Mario Gabelli. To open up those two seats, Bill Gates will no longer have a representative on the Fisher board.
The recent retirement of Phelps K. Fisher opened up one seat on the board. Now the company has filed the proxy for its annual shareholder with the SEC, revealing that the other board member who will be leaving is Jerry A. St. Dennis, who has been a director since 2003. He is an associate of Cascade Investment LLC, a title which doesn’t reflect the major role he plays in managing the personal investments of Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
Gates, however, remains a major investor in Fisher Communications. According to the proxy, Cascade, his personal investment company, owns 5.2% of the shares of Fisher. Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors owns 20.2%, TowerView LLC 8.4%, George D. Fisher (including the D.R. Fisher Company and the D.R. Fisher Trust) 6.1% and Reed, Conner & Birdwell, LLC 5.9%.
