Company: COST
Filing Date: 2025-12-04
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0000909832-25-000159
Chunk: 3

Company: COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP /NEW
Filing Date: 2025-12-04
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 3
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 directors.

A majority of the common stock entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting, present either virtually or by proxy, will constitute a quorum. Shareholders who abstain from voting on any or all proposals will be included in the number of shareholders present at the meeting for purposes of determining the presence of a quorum. Abstentions and broker non-votes will not be included in the total of votes cast and will not affect the outcome of the vote on proposals 1 through 4.

With respect to proposal 1, the Company’s bylaws provide that in an uncontested election for directors, as at this meeting, a nominee will be elected if the number of votes cast for the nominee's election exceeds the number of votes cast against the nominee's election. An incumbent director nominee who fails to receive the requisite votes for election will not be elected but will continue to serve as a director until the earliest of: (i) 90 days from the date on which the voting results of the election are determined; (ii) the date on

which an individual is selected by the Board to fill the position held by such director; or (iii) the date of the director's resignation. With respect to proposals 2 through 4, to approve each proposal the votes that shareholders cast “for” must exceed the votes cast “against.”

If shares are held by a broker or other financial institution on your behalf (that is, in “street name”), and you do not instruct that firm as to how to vote them, Nasdaq rules allow the firm to vote your shares only on routine matters. Proposal 2, the ratification of the selection of the Company’s independent auditors for fiscal 2026, is the only matter for consideration at the meeting that Nasdaq rules deem to be routine. For all other proposals, you must submit voting instructions to the firm that holds your shares if you want your vote to count. When a firm votes a client’s shares on some but not all of the proposals, the missing votes are referred to as “broker non-votes.” Please instruct your broker or other financial institution so your vote can be counted .

In addition to mailing the Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials to shareholders, the Company has asked banks and brokers to forward copies of the notice, and upon request, paper copies of the proxy materials, to persons for whom they hold stock of the Company and to request authority for execution of the proxies. The Company will reimburse banks and brokers for their reasonable out-of-pocket expenses in doing so. Officers