CORNING INC /NY
For the period ended Apr 30, 2026. Filed Mar 20, 2026.
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What shareholders are asked to vote on at a company's meeting. It is where to find what directors and top executives are paid, and who owns the most shares.
Apr 30, 2026 · Filed Mar 20, 2026
Contents
Proxy Statement Summary
This summary highlights information contained elsewhere in this proxy statement. This summary does not contain all information that you should consider, and you should read the entire proxy statement carefully before voting. As used in this proxy statement, “Corning,” the “Company,” “us” and “we” may refer to Corning Incorporated itself, one or more of its subsidiaries, or Corning Incorporated and its consolidated subsidiaries.
Proposals That Require Your Vote
| Proposal | Board Vote Recommendation | More Information |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Election of 10 directors | For Each Nominee | page 19 |
| 2 Advisory approval of our executive compensation (Say on Pay) | For | page 53 |
| 3 Ratification of appointment of independent registered public accounting firm | For | page 95 |
| 4 Shareholder Proposal | Against | page 99 |
Annual Meeting of Shareholders
Date and Time: April 30, 2026, 12 noon Eastern Time
Admission: See the instructions contained in “Frequently Asked Questions about the Meeting and Voting” on page 101. On March 20, 2026, we posted this proxy statement and our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 on our website at corning.com/2026-proxy and began mailing them to shareholders who requested paper copies.
| 6 | CORNING 2026 PROXY STATEMENT |
Who We Are
Corning is one of the world’s leading innovators in materials science, with a 175-year track record of life-changing inventions. Corning applies its unparalleled expertise in glass science, ceramic science, and optical physics, along with its deep manufacturing and engineering capabilities to develop category-defining products that transform industries and enhance people’s lives.
Corning succeeds through sustained investment in research, development and engineering, a unique combination of material and process innovation, and deep, trust-based relationships with customers who are global leaders in their industries. Corning’s capabilities are versatile and synergistic, which allows the Company to evolve to meet changing market needs, while also helping its customers capture new opportunities in dynamic industries. Today, Corning’s markets include optical communications, display, mobile consumer electronics, automotive, life sciences, semiconductors and solar. Our industry-leading products include optical fiber, cable and connectivity solutions for advanced communications networks, such as fiber to the home and data centers, enabling artificial intelligence (AI) and connections around the world; precision glass for advanced displays; damage-resistant cover materials for mobile devices; clean-air technologies and technical glass for cars and trucks; and trusted products to accelerate drug discovery and delivery.
At Corning, we are the best in the world at what we do ‒ and we continue to enhance our knowledge and hone our skills so that we are always creating a better version of ourselves. —Wendell P. Weeks, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President
What We Do*
*Reflecting approximate percentage share of 2025 core net sales. Hemlock and Emerging Growth Businesses is not a reportable segment, but rather reflects all other businesses that do not meet the quantitative threshold for separate reporting.
| CORNING 2026 PROXY STATEMENT | 7 |
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Our 2025 Results
| 2025 GAAP Results | $15,629 million Net Sales | $1.83 (diluted Earnings Per Share) |
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| 2025 Core Results* | $16,408 million Core Net Sales | $2.52 (diluted Earnings Per Share) |
| 2025 Cash Flow Results | $2,695 million Cash Flows from Operating Activities | $1,717 million Adjusted Free Cash Flow* |
*Refer to Appendix A for more information.
CORE PERFORMANCE MEASURES
In managing the Company and assessing our financial performance, we adjust certain measures included in our consolidated financial statements to exclude specific items to arrive at measures that are not calculated in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and exclude specific items that are non-recurring, related to foreign exchange volatility, or unrelated to continuing operations. These measures are our core performance measures.
Our management uses core performance measures, along with GAAP financial measures, to make financial and operational decisions. These measures also form the basis of our compensation program metrics. Management believes that our core performance measures are indicative of our core operating performance and provide investors with greater visibility into how management evaluates our results and trends, and makes business decisions.
Items that are excluded from certain core performance measure calculations include: the impact of translating foreign-denominated debt, the impact of translated earnings contracts, acquisition-related costs, certain discrete tax items and other tax-related adjustments, restructuring, impairment and other charges and credits, certain litigation, regulatory and other legal matters, pension mark-to-market adjustments and other items which do not reflect ongoing operating results of the Company.
In addition, because a significant portion of our revenues and expenses are denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar, management believes it is important to understand the impact on sales and net income of translating these currencies into U.S. dollars. Therefore, Corning utilizes constant-currency reporting for our Optical Communications, Display, Specialty Materials, Automotive and Life Sciences segments to exclude the impact from the Japanese yen, South Korean won, Chinese yuan, New Taiwan dollar, Mexican peso and euro, as applicable to the segment.We believe that the use of constant-currency reporting allows management to understand our results without the volatility of currency fluctuations, analyze underlying trends in the businesses and establish operational goals and forecasts. More information on these items can be found in Appendix A.
These non-GAAP measures are not an alternative to, or a replacement for, financial results determined in accordance with GAAP.Please see Appendix A to this proxy statement for a reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures we use in this proxy statement to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures.
| 8 | CORNING 2026 PROXY STATEMENT |
2025 Performance Highlights: Springboard Delivers Enhanced Financial Profile and Continued Momentum
In 2025, Corning delivered another excellent year, building on the early success of our Springboard plan and fundamentally transforming the financial profile of the Company. Our results reflect strong execution against our Springboard objectives—driving higher sales, expanding profitability, and significantly increasing returns and free cash flow.
Full-Year 2025: Achieving Milestones while Delivering Exceptional Results
For the full year 2025:
| • | We delivered double-digit core sales growth and delivered on our high-confidence Springboard sales plan a full year early. |
| • | Core EPS grew twice as fast as sales, with full-year core EPS at $2.52. |
| • | Adjusted free cash flow grew three times as fast as sales, reaching $1.72 billion for the full year, nearly doubling since the launch of Springboard. |
| • | We expanded core operating margin by 180 basis points year over year. |
Additionally, in the fourth quarter of 2025, we delivered core operating margin of 20.2%, achieving our Springboard core operating margin target of 20% a full year early.
Taken as a whole, 2025 demonstrated the strong incrementals of our Springboard plan, with a greater than 20% core operating margin, core ROIC in the low teens, and stronger cash generation.
Overall, the first two years of Springboard have been a tremendous success—establishing a highly profitable launch point for future growth. With an upgraded high-confidence Springboard growth plan and long-term, de-risked contracts with major customers, Corning is well positioned to continue this momentum into 2026 and beyond, generating strong profit and cash flow as demand for our products and capabilities continues to grow.
During 2025, We Bolstered Key Partnerships while Expanding Our Capacity and Capability
| • | We announced long-term agreements with key customers, including a multiyear, up to $6-billion-dollar agreement with Meta to accelerate the buildout of the most advanced data centers in the U.S. to support Meta’s apps, technologies, and AI ambitions using our newest innovations in optical fiber, cable, and connectivity solutions. We continue to pursue similarly structured long-term agreements with other key customers in order to allow Corning to provide secure U.S. origin production of our most advanced Gen AI, high density innovations, while appropriately sharing the cost and risk of such expansions with customers. |
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| • | We announced a major expansion of our long-standing partnership with Apple, whereby Apple made a new $2.5 billion commitment to produce all of the cover glass for iPhone and Apple Watch in Corning’s Harrodsburg, Kentucky, manufacturing facility. This means that 100 percent of the cover glass on iPhone and Apple Watch units sold worldwide will be made in the U.S. for the first time. We believe this creates a larger, longer term opportunity for Corning in mobile consumer electronics. |
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| • | We built the largest solar ingot and wafer facility in the United States, co-located with our polysilicon facility in Hemlock, Michigan. This investment represents a step forward in one of our newest businesses where we are applying deep materials science expertise to bring a “More Corning” content approach in Solar. |
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| • | We announced that the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge will feature Corning® Gorilla® Glass Ceramic 2, a new glass ceramic offering that delivers advanced protection in a new, remarkably thin device form factor. |
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| CORNING 2026 PROXY STATEMENT | 9 |
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Sharing our Success with Our Stakeholders
During 2025, we continued to return capital to our shareholders. We have consistently paid a quarterly dividend to our holders of record, which we held steady in 2025 at $1.12, representing a 27.3% increase since 2020. Additionally, we have coupled our regular dividends with opportunistic share repurchases. In 2025 alone we returned more than $1.1 billion to our shareholders through dividends and repurchases.
Our Total Shareholder Return (TSR) consists of stock price appreciation and reinvestment of common dividends. Our 1-, 3-, and 5-year TSR performance of approximately 88%, 198%, and 179%, respectively, has significantly outperformed each of the S&P 500, S&P 500 Equal Weight Index (S&P EW), and our Compensation Peer Group over each such period as presented below.
TSR PERFORMANCE
As of December 31, 2025
Source: FactSet
| 10 | CORNING 2026 PROXY STATEMENT |
2025 Executive Compensation Program Highlights
Our Board maintains a “pay for performance” philosophy that forms the foundation for all Compensation and Talent Management Committee decisions regarding executive compensation. This philosophy further aligns the interests of our executives with those of our shareholders. We achieve this through a balanced mix of base salary and annual and long-term incentives, with a substantial portion of compensation tied directly to the Company’s financial, operational, and strategic results. Our programs promote sustained leadership accountability through robust governance, strong share ownership requirements, and risk-mitigation practices, ensuring we attract, motivate, and retain top talent while upholding transparency and responsible business conduct. Our Board of Directors recommends that shareholders vote in favor of the resolution approving our executive compensation as found on page 53.
2025 Compensation Components
In 2025 approximately 91% of our CEO’s target total compensation and 87% of the other Named Executive Officers’ (NEOs) target total compensation (in both cases excluding employee benefits and perquisites) was variable and dependent on Corning’s financial performance or stock price.
| CEO | ALL OTHER NEOs |
|---|
RSUs – Restricted Stock Units
PSUs – Performance Stock Units
CPUs – Cash Performance Units
| CORNING 2026 PROXY STATEMENT | 11 |
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2025 Pay Program Components
| Pay Component | Form and Payout Method | Purpose | Award Value |
| Base Salary | Cash - fixed | • Attract and retain talent • Provide financial certainty | • Value of role to the Company • Value of role in competitive marketplace • Skills and performance • Internal equity |
| Short-Term Incentives (STI) • GoalSharing Plan | Cash - variable | • Paid to all employees to drive focus on delivering annual local plant and business unit scorecard objectives | • Generally targeted at 5% of base salary with payouts based on annual corporate and local unit performance |
| • Performance Incentive Plan (PIP) | Cash - variable | • Provide additional incentive to executives to deliver specific annual corporate and business financial plans | • Annual target awards are set individually based on the competitive marketplace and scope of responsibility • 2025 PIP payouts for NEOs are based on corporate and division financial performance |
| Long-Term Incentives (LTI) • Cash Performance Units (CPUs) • Performance Stock Units (PSUs) • Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) | 70% is performance based (consisting of 25% CPUs and 45% PSUs) while 30% is in time-based RSUs | • Focus executives on long-term results • Align the long-term interests of executives and shareholders • Ensure equity ownership for executive team • Reward achievement of long-term objectives over the three-year measurement period • Retain talent | • Target awards are based on competitive marketplace, level of executive, impact and potential • Actual units earned relative to target are based on corporate performance against pre-set goals • Value of PSUs and RSUs is tied directly to the price of our common stock |
| All Other: • Benefits • Perquisites • Severance Protection | Ongoing or Event-Driven | • Support the health, safety and security of our executives, and their ability to plan for retirement • Enhance executive productivity • Retain talent | • Competitive marketplace • Level of executive • Corning Values |
| Our Metrics and Why We Use Them | |
|---|---|
| Core Earnings per Share (Core EPS) Core EPS is our key measure of profitability.* Core Net Sales Growing core net sales — both organically through innovation and through acquisitions — remains critical to our short- and long-term success. | Adjusted Free Cash Flow Strong cash generation enables us to invest in future growth, sustain leadership in our markets, and remain financially strong during periods of uncertainty. It also requires us to carefully manage our capital investments. Return on Invested Capital (ROIC)** We focus on ROIC because it reflects our ability to generate returns from the capital we have deployed in our operations. The Cash Performance Units (CPUs) payout and Performance Stock Units (PSUs) earned are increased or decreased up to 10% based on Corning’s ROIC improvement over the three-year performance period. |
*Corning budgets for share repurchases when establishing annual financial performance targets.
**ROIC as used here and elsewhere in our compensation discussion refers to ROIC for compensation purposes, which is a different metric from core ROIC. Please see the bottom of page 69 and Appendix A for more information.
Core net sales is a primary indicator of Corning’s short- and long-term success. Evaluating performance against a predetermined net sales metric provides insight into how well the Company has retained sales and met sales growth targets, accounting for both organic growth efforts and the impact of acquisitions. We use core net sales as a performance measure in our annual bonus plans (GoalSharing and PIP) because GoalSharing impacts every employee and PIP impacts over 8,000 employees. In this way, every employee has alignment with Corning’s sales growth goals. The LTI plan, which impacts approximately 320 executives who are key to driving the short- and long-term financial growth of the Company, also includes a core net sales performance measure. Incorporating net sales into both the STI and LTI plans allows for a comprehensive evaluation of Corning’s ability to establish sustainable sales growth. It is a “duplicate goal” for only a small fraction, about 0.5%, of our approximately 67,200 employees, andthe Compensation and Talent Management Committee believes the increased focus on core net sales growth is appropriate for that smaller group of executives given the importance of sales growth for Corning over time and the essential role of these key executives in facilitating and driving this sales growth.
| 12 | CORNING 2026 PROXY STATEMENT |
2025 Compensation Plan Payout Percentages
The following table reflects our 2025 compensation plans’ payout percentages based on our 2025 financial performance:
| SHORT TERM INCENTIVE PLAN · LONG TERM INCENTIVE PLAN | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANNUAL CASH BONUS – GOALSHARING · CASH PERFORMANCE UNITS AND PERFORMANCE STOCK UNITS (70% OF LTI TARGET — 2025 PERFORMANCE RESULTS) | |||||||||
| Components · Weighting · % of target earned · Components · Weighting · % of target earned | |||||||||
| Corporate financial performance | 25% | 150% | Adjusted Free Cash Flow | 70% | 141% | ||||
| Average of all unit plans (>100 units) | 75% | 143% | Core Net Sales | 30% | 184% | ||||
| 2025 payout (% of target) | 145%1 | 2025 blended performance result | 154% | ||||||
| 1 Equal to 7.25% of base salary (based on a 5% target) for each NEO, except for Mr. Nelson and Mr. Zhang whose payouts are 6.72% and 7.23% respectively, based upon their respective responsibilities in 2025 as further discussed in the Compensation Discussion and Analysis section below. | |||||||||
| ANNUAL CASH BONUS – PIP · LTI PLAN PAYOUT FOR 3-YEAR PERIOD ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2025 | |||||||||
| Components · Weighting · % of target earned · Components · % of target earned | |||||||||
| Corporate financial performance | 50% | 150% | 2023 performance result | 56% | |||||
| Business financial performance2 | 50% | 129% | 2024 performance result | 200% | |||||
| 2025 payout (% of target)2 | 140% | 2025 performance result | 154% | ||||||
| 2 Mr. Nelson and Mr. Zhang received business financial performance scores of 116% and 137%, respectively, resulting in a total payout of 133% of target and 144% of target for Mr. Nelson and Mr. Zhang. These targets are based upon the respective responsibilities of Mr. Nelson and Mr. Zhang in 2025 as further discussed in the Compensation Discussion and Analysis section below. | 2023-2025 average performance | 137% | |||||||
| ROIC MODIFIER | +10% | ||||||||
| 2023-2025 average performance · × · ROIC Modifier · = · Final % payout of 2023 target CPUs and PSUs | |||||||||
| 137% × 1.10 · = · 150.7% Final Payout (% of target) | |||||||||
Restricted Stock Units
In addition to the performance metric-driven compensation described above, 30% of each executive’s target Long-Term Incentive award is delivered in the form of time-based Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) that will vest after three years. These RSUs are not tied to specific performance measures; however their value is directly impacted by changes in the Company’s stock price. The impact of our stock price, along with the three-year vesting period, help to further align the compensation of our executives with the performance outcomes of our shareholders and also provide an ongoing retention benefit for executives, in particular with respect to those executives who are not yet retirement-eligible.
| CORNING 2026 PROXY STATEMENT | 13 |
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Our Director Nominees
All director nominees are independent except Mr. Weeks.
| Name and Primary Occupation | Age | Director Since | Committee Memberships* | Other Public Company Boards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ami Badani Chief Marketing Officer, Arm Holdings plc | 47 | 2025 | • Information Technology • Finance | 0 |
| Leslie A. Brun Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Sarr Group, LLC | 73 | 2018 | • Audit • Executive • Finance | 0 |
| Stephanie A. Burns Lead Independent Director Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dow Corning Corporation | 71 | 2012 | • Compensation • Executive • Governance (Chair) | 1 |
| Pamela J. Craig Retired Chief Financial Officer, Accenture plc. | 69 | 2021 | • Audit (Chair) • Information Technology | 2 |
| Robert F. Cummings, Jr. Retired Vice Chairman of Investment Banking, JPMorgan Chase & Co. | 76 | 2006 | • Executive • Finance (Chair) • Governance | 0 |
| Roger W. Ferguson, Jr. Steven A. Tananbaum Distinguished Fellow for International Economics, Council on Foreign Relations | 74 | 2021 | • Compensation (Chair) • Governance | 2 |
| Thomas D. French Senior Partner Emeritus, McKinsey & Company, Inc. | 66 | 2023 | • Audit • Finance | 0 |
| Daniel P. Huttenlocher Dean, MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing | 67 | 2015 | • Finance • Information Technology (Chair) | 1 |
| Kevin J. Martin Vice President, Public Policy, Meta Platforms, Inc. | 59 | 2013 | • Compensation • Governance | 0 |
| Wendell P. Weeks Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, Corning Incorporated | 66 | 2000 | • Executive (Chair) | 1 |
*Audit = Audit Committee; Compensation = Compensation and Talent Management Committee; Executive = Executive Committee; Finance = Finance Committee; Governance = Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee; Information Technology = Information Technology Committee
| 14 | CORNING 2026 PROXY STATEMENT |
Board of Directors Snapshot
Our directors’ experience, competencies and skills are key to our success.
Please see the Director Nominees section starting on page 23 for additional information on the director nominees.
| BOARD INDEPENDENCE | BOARD REFRESHMENT |
| Only our Chairman is Not Independent | 4 New Independent Directors in the Past 5 Years |
CORE COMPETENCIES
| Public Company Governance Experience 8 Directors | Finance and Accounting 7 Directors | Enterprise and Emerging Risk Oversight 10 Directors |
| Government and Regulatory 5 Directors | Management of a Complex Organization 4 Directors |
STRATEGIC SKILLS
| Expertise in Our Industries and End Markets 7 Directors | Technology, R&D, and Innovation 5 Directors | Operations 3 Directors | Commercial Strategy 5 Directors |
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| Enterprise and Digital Transformation 4 Directors | Corporate Development 7 Directors | Global Perspective 8 Directors |
See the section entitled Skills, Competencies, and Characteristics Currently Represented on the Board beginning on page 20 for a description of each skill and competency and matrix of the nominees’ individual strategic skills, core competencies and attributes.
| CORNING 2026 PROXY STATEMENT | 15 |
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Governance Highlights
BOARD STRUCTURE, INDEPENDENCE AND EFFECTIVENESS
| • Engaged Lead Independent Director with clear and comprehensive duties and responsibilities (See page 34) • Annual review of optimal Board leadership structure (See page 33) • Corporate Governance Guidelines require majority Board independence; currently all current directors independent except our Chairman (90%) • All committees except the Executive Committee consisting entirely of independent directors | • Board members with deep experience, skills, and competencies relevant to our business and aligned with our strategic priorities along with multidimensional perspectives from varied backgrounds, skills and experiences • Executive sessions of the independent directors led by the Lead Independent Director at each regular in-person Board meeting without management present • Strong meeting attendance with six Board meetings in 2025 and directors attending 97% of combined Board and applicable committee meetings | • Executive sessions at committee meetings led by independent directors without management present • Annual written Board and committee performance evaluations, including annual interviews with the Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee regarding Board composition, performance, effectiveness and areas of focus • Annual review of committee charters, Corporate Governance Principles and related policies |
SHAREHOLDER RIGHTS AND ACCOUNTABILITY
| • Annual election of all directors • Proxy access rights whereby eligible shareholders may include director nominees in our proxy statement • Annual advisory vote on executive compensation | • No poison pill • Majority voting standard for directors (in uncontested elections) • One class of voting stock with each share entitled to one vote | • Regular management and director engagement with shareholders on key topics (holders of approximately 56% of shares outstanding contacted during the 2025-2026 proxy season and engagement with holders of approximately 33% of shares outstanding) (See page 64) |
BOARD OVERSIGHT
| • Oversight of the Company’s annual capital plan, corporate strategy, succession planning and risk management • Comprehensive and strategic CEO and senior management succession planning • Robust and active Board refreshment process • Key management and rising talent reviewed at an annual talent review | • Director access to experts and advisors, both internal and external as well as senior management • Focus on dynamic strategic oversight of issues impacting our business, including cybersecurity, AI, political activity, and sustainability • Enterprise Risk Management team, including the Company’s Risk Council, internal audit department, and Compliance Council, that regularly reports to the Board | • Comprehensive and dynamic full Board risk oversight, with specific areas of focus overseen by our five independently chaired standing committees: • Audit • Compensation and Talent Management • Finance • Information Technology • Nominating and Corporate Governance |
STRONG CORPORATE GOVERNANCE PRACTICES
| • Prohibition of hedging, pledging, or trading in derivatives of the Company’s stock by directors and all employees • Comprehensive clawback policy in accordance with NYSE Listing Standards for executive incentive compensation • Robust annual risk assessment of executive compensation programs, policies and practices • Market-competitive director compensation program designed to support and reinforce governance principles | • Robust Code of Conduct for Directors and Executive Officers, Code of Ethics for Chief Executive Officer and Financial Executives, and Code of Conduct for all employees • Overboarding policy whereby a non-employee director may serve on no more than three other public company boards and an employee director may serve on no more than two other public company boards (absent review and approval by the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee) | • Well-designed executive compensation program aligned with strategic priorities and reviewed and approved by the Compensation and Talent Management Committee • Robust stock ownership requirements for directors and key executive officers. • Policy of director retirement at the annual meeting of shareholders following the director’s 78th birthday • Current average tenure our Board members is 10 years (See pg. 15) |
| 16 | CORNING 2026 PROXY STATEMENT |
Impact of our Values in Action
Corning is guided by its core Values, which define our relationship with our stakeholders. These Values – Quality, Integrity, Performance, Leadership, Innovation, Independence and The Individual – are the foundation of who we are. Our Values guide our actions and decisions, as they have for much of our 175-year history. We are always working to leave the world better than we found it. That’s why we lead with our Values, whether in the products we make, the way we make them, or how we treat people and our communities. We believe that our innovations have transformed industries, enhanced people’s lives and addressed some of society’s biggest challenges. In accordance with our Values, we also believe improved, sustainable business practices increase shareholder value, drive performance, strengthen our Company, increase our connection with our shareholders, and help us better serve our customers and the communities in which our employees live and we operate.We embrace these opportunities to deliver value to our shareholders, our employees, our customers, and the wider world.
At Corning, we think about our sustainability contributions in two categories:Our handprint – what we enable others to do through our products and services, andour footprint – how our actions directly affect others. Our people and products make a positive difference in the world, and continuous innovation, done our way, is made sustainable through a deeply engrained moral compass and the trust of our stakeholders.
| HANDPRINT | • Harnessing solar power with a resilient U.S. supply chain. Coming online in 2025, Corning now operates the largest ingot and wafer facility in the United States, delivering secure and transparent solutions that meet rising global energy demand. With a co-located polysilicon source on our Michigan campus, our logistics are measured in minutes, not months, making us resilient to trade disruptions and reducing transportation-related emissions. • Making AI more sustainable. With the rise of AI comes an unprecedented demand for energy from data centers and hyperscaler facilities. Corning® GlassWorks AI™ Solutions, offer a portfolio of products and services to help operators build the dense fiber infrastructure required for data center connectivity. Greater density means more fiber in the same footprint, resulting in a more efficient use of materials. A central product in the portfolio, Contour™ Flow cable, fits double the optical fiber into the same space, allowing operators of intercity networks to reuse existing infrastructure. • Using co-packaged optics to promote data center efficiency. The rise of AI has pushed copper connections in data centers to their limit – creating computational bottlenecks and generating extra heat. Corning’s co-packaged optics technology increases optical fiber’s reach into the server, keeping the data in its optical form until it gets much closer to the GPU or switch. This helps to unlock faster, cheaper, and more energy-efficient data processing. • Helping to make windows less wasteful. Corning is vital in the push for building energy efficiency with our solution for triple- and quadruple-paned windows. Corning® Enlighten™ Glass is an enabling technology for high-performance windows and doors that can significantly enhance the thermal performance, comfort, durability, and aesthetics of built environments. |
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| FOOTPRINT | • Reworking our packaging to reduce waste. Our Optical Communications business eliminated the use of LDPE polybags to hold coiled cable trunks in boxes by 50% for EMEA data center customers, and eliminated the use of foam inserts for Edge XD, resulting in a reduction of 1 ton of CO2 in EMEA. Additionally, the business achieved a 52% reduction in plastic corrugate reels packaging in NAFTA and EMEA. • Encouraging self-ownership of sustainable process improvements. Competing teams from the Corning Sustainability Network pitched ideas for sustainability projects to raise awareness of innovative process improvements and receive funding for implementation. Researchers from Corning Research Center China in Shanghai won $20,000 to use scrap materials as an energy storage solution, while a team from Corning European Technology Center in France won $5,000 to greatly improve the energy efficiency of their furnaces with new technology. • Broadening our sources of power. In 2025, we expanded the scope of our solar energy supply, including beginning to receive energy from ib vogt’s solar farm in Segovia, Spain, through renewable energy credits and installing solar power panels to supply power for nonprocess equipment at our optical fiber plan in Haikou, China, generating an estimated annual energy savings of 788,000 kWh/year. |
We also maintain a dedicated website and disclosure hub, that serves as an online repository for our sustainability-related disclosures, guidelines, policies and webpage links. More detail regarding Corning’s approach to environmental, social, governance and human capital matters, and its Values, including our Global Impact Report, can be explored at our Sustainability website, which can be found athttps://www.corning.com/worldwide/en/sustainability.html. Our sustainability reporting, website, or other materials accessible thereby are not incorporated by reference into this proxy statement.
| CORNING 2026 PROXY STATEMENT | 17 |
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Connections in Our Communities
Throughout its history, Corning has routinely made contributions to civic, educational, charitable, cultural and other institutions that improve the quality of life and increase the resources of the communities in which we operate, making Corning more attractive to employees.
In 2023, we combined our various philanthropic entities into a new consolidated function and center of excellence called Community Impact & Investment. This centralizes our U.S. philanthropic contributions under a single organization, allowing us to maximize our impact in the areas that align most closely with our values and the needs of the communities where we operate. For more information about Corning’s Community Impact & Investment outreach, please see corning.com/worldwide/en/ community-impact-and-investment.
Corning’s giving also includes annual contributions to both local and international cultural and educational institutions. Among them, we are proud to support The Corning Museum of Glass (CMOG) – the world’s leading glass museum. Beyond just a key cultural and community hub, CMOG also provides Corning with a unique innovation crucible where our glass scientists and experts collaborate with glass artists and designers to creatively explore the novel properties of glass and innovate new uses in an environment uninhibited by traditional commercial boundaries. Wendell P. Weeks (Chairman, CEO and President) and Edward A. Schlesinger (Executive Vice President and CFO) serve on the CMOG board of trustees. In 2025, Corning provided cash and non-cash contributions of services to CMOG of approximately $35.4 million.
Corning provides financial support to the Alternative School for Math and Science (ASMS), a private middle school located in Corning, New York, with an advanced curriculum focused on science and math. Currently, children of Corning employees represent approximately 50% of its enrollment. In 2025, Corning’s non-cash contributions totaled approximately $1.9 million and cash contributions totaled $346,000. Kim Frock Weeks (spouse of Wendell P. Weeks, our Chairman, CEO and President) serves on the ASMS board of trustees and as the executive head of school but receives no salary or benefits in this role.
| 18 | CORNING 2026 PROXY STATEMENT |
The text of this filing, as the company filed it with the SEC, without its images or exhibits. This is not investment advice.