A growing number of companies are facing investor backlash against fat C-suite pay packages.

Why it matters: Shareholders are eyeing pay more closely after a year that crushed the economy, decimated some businesses (and displaced their workers) — but still left some top executives with hefty payouts.

Catch up quick: What's typically a procedural signoff on how much leaders will be paid is turning into a rebellion of sorts.

• At least eight have seen compensation slapped down by a majority of shareholders at annual meetings, twice as many as this time last year.
• Proxy advisor ISS — which influences how big shareholders vote — supported just 77% of executive pay proposals (versus the 89% they supported in 2020).

What they're saying: This year's "unusually low support levels" show investors punishing "companies that made significant changes to executive compensation without descriptive disclosure and/or a compelling rationale," Alliance Advisors' James Miller wrote in a note out today.

• About 53% of shareholders voted against Walgreens' payout plan earlier this year. The pharmacy chain cut out part of 2020 results from a bonus calculation.
• That calculation shift meant a few executives were eligible for equity awards "worth $7.68 million that otherwise would have been forfeited" without that change, Bloomberg reports.
• AT&T, Starbucks and General Electric also saw executive pay proposals shot down by a majority of investors for the first time in years.

But, but, but: Votes on pay are nonbinding, so companies ultimately do what they want. However, it sends a strong signal to top ranks that's rarely ignored for long.

What to watch: For companies that have received shareholder approval for pay packages, they're increasingly close calls. Historically, investors support them by a wide margin.

• 57% of Wells Fargo investors approved its CEO pay plan, "among the lowest support for a major U.S. bank" on record, per Reuters.

Oklahoma, Indiana and Texas are the latest Republican-led states to say they'll prematurely cut off the more generous unemployment benefits next month.

• The money has kept millions of Americans afloat while the pandemic took a historic toll on the economy. The states' governors say slimmed-down payments will help with widespread reports of worker shortages in their states.

The backdrop: New jobless applications hit yet another pandemic-era low, Labor Department data out today shows.

• The number of Americans continuing to collect unemployment across various programs fell to 16 million — also a pandemic-era low.

🥛 Oatly shares closed up 19% on its debut trading day. (WSJ)

💸 The Treasury Department released a plan to close the "tax gap," including more oversight and stepped-up penalties for evaders. (Axios)

📝 The Fed says it will release a paper on digital currency — a notable move as it weighs whether to roll out its own ... Robinhood will allow retail investors to buy into IPOs ... JPMorgan is launching a new unit focused on health care, months after Haven collapsed.

Wealthy investors and business owners overwhelmingly support the Biden administration's infrastructure plan, according to a new UBS survey.

• But it starts to drop off for "social infrastructure" initiatives, like child care services and elderly care.

Why it matters: It mirrors the fight that’s escalated in Washington over how to rebuild America — what should be in the plan and how it should be paid for.

What they’re saying: “The notion that this is going to be fully offset by tax increases I think is unrealistic,” Mike Ryan, a divisional chairman at UBS, tells Axios.

The intrigue: Nearly all — 97% of investors and 94% of businesses — want the plan funded without raising the deficit.

• 72% of investors support paying for the plan “through corporate tax reform.” 83% of business owners say the same.
• Corporate America has unsurprisingly opposed proposals to raise their tax rate.

Here's a stat for you: 1 billion Bitmojis — those virtual personalized cartoon stickers — are sent every day.

• That's just one of the metrics the parent company of Snapchat unveiled at its annual Snap Partner Summit, Axios' Sara Fischer reports.
• Snap bought Bitmoji maker Bitstrips years ago.

The company also debuted new "Spectacles," 3D glasses with built-in microphones, two stereo speakers and built-in touchpad controls.

Read more ... Snap says it now has 500 million monthly active users

"In a lineup that has been all too common in banking — and especially Wall Street — four [w]hite men are now in the lead to potentially succeed [Morgan Stanley CEO James] Gorman."