AT&T shareholders demand answers

Some AT&T shareholders want more than just dollars and cents from the board of directors in the aftermath of the company’s aborted takeover of T-Mobile: They want to know how company money is being spent to influence politics.

A slew of corporate boards — including those of Apple, Ford and Pepsi — are being petitioned this proxy season by stockholders demanding an accounting of corporate funds being spent on campaigns, super PACs and political causes as corporate governance experts and members of Congress press for new federal rules. “Companies like AT&T are not tracing where shareholder money goes, and there needs to be due diligence on every political contribution, because it could have a wide-ranging effect that could impact the reputation of the company,” said Adam Kanzer, managing director and general counsel for Domini Social Investments, an AT&T shareholder group trying to get the company to disclose more of its political spending.