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A Pennsylvania shareholder showed the chief executive officer a photo of himself with someone dressed as the Grim Reaper.
Other than that, MasterCard Inc.'s first annual shareholders meeting as a publicly traded company offered few surprises - and some insight on the credit card giant's thinking as it strives to overcome a trio of lawsuits that threaten to torpedo its share price.
Arthur Litoff of York Springs, Pa., amused attendees in a half-empty auditorium with his tale of how a bank declared him dead following a credit card billing dispute. While not positive the card was a MasterCard, Litoff challenged the company to lead its industry in simplifying and presenting plainly to consumers the terms and conditions of its payment products.
MasterCard CEO Robert W. Selander didn't accept the challenge but did apologize for Litoff's plight and made him an offer: "In the future if you do have any problems - and I do hope it will be with Visa and not MasterCard we'll be happy to try and intervene with one of these organizations (member banks) so that the solution is taken care of to your satisfaction.
Litoff provided the lightest moment in a meeting devoted largely to routine business. Holders of class A stock elected Selander and seven independent directors to MasterCard's board of directors, while one director was chosen by the member banks...