Zynga blocks media from annual meeting

Ian Sherr of The Wall Street Journal reports that business reporters were shut out of Zynga’s annual meeting on Tuesday.

Sherr writes, “A day after announcing massive job cuts and the closure of multiple satellite offices, Jeffrey Schmidt, a legal counsel for the company, declined to let a Wall Street Journal reporter into the company’s shareholder meeting. The company did not offer a live webcast.

“The company hosted the meeting at the Marriott Marquis hotel, with what Zynga said was 25 investors in a cordoned-off room. Only registered shareholders are allowed to attend, Zynga said. When asked why the public outside the room wouldn’t have access to the information being shared with investors inside, Schmidt said that was how the meeting had been set up.

“A company spokeswoman subsequently said Zynga conducted the meeting the same way last year, and it is standard company policy.

“Shortly before stock markets closed Monday, Zynga said it would lay off about 18% of its staff, or 520 people, saving about $70 million to $80 million per year. These cuts trimmed the company’s staffing levels to around 2,300, lower than the 2,700 it had at the time of its IPO in December 2011.”

Read more here.

There is no law requiring public companies to provide annual meeting access to reporters, and other companies have shut journalists out in the past.