Twitter names ex Google CFO Pichette as chair, Kordestani to stay on

June 4, 2020

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss and Munsif Vengattil

(Reuters) – Twitter Inc on Tuesday appointed Patrick Pichette, a former chief financial officer at Google, as the social network’s board chairman, marking the 1st time in Twitter’s history that an outsider will preside above the team.

Pichette, who experienced been Twitter’s direct impartial director considering that the stop of 2018, will replace Omid Kordestani in primary the directors as chairman. Kordestani supervised the board and experienced far more working day to day involvement with the organization as government chairman for approximately five years.

Kordestani will continue to be on as a director, serving on the 11-member board along with a few new directors.

The go comes three months right after Elliott Administration, the $40 billion hedge fund, experienced sought to oust CEO Jack Dorsey, pushed for enhanced corporate governance and preferred to see a higher share rate. The two sides arrived at an agreement in early March that allow Dorsey continue to be, for now, and handed board seats to Elliott amid other people.

Buyers have been significantly pushing for outsiders to preside above boards.

Pichette is anticipated to bring greater scrutiny of administration and a stronger aim on monetary matters to the business. Twitter’s inventory price shut at $32.26 on Tuesday, down 12.5% in the last 52 months.

Jesse Cohn, who lad Elliott’s campaign, Egon Durban, Silver Lake’s co-chief government, and artificial intelligence specialist Fei-Fei Lei joined the board as section of the deal.

Social media platforms have been under powerful scrutiny currently in excess of how they law enforcement the distribute of untrue details, and Twitter and Dorsey produced headlines by getting on President Donald Trump, Twitter’s most famed person.

Trump, who accuses social media companies of bias in opposition to conservatives, devoid of evidence, stepped up attacks on Twitter just after it set truth-examining labels on Trump tweets.

Trump signed an government purchase threatening Silicon Valley social media corporations with new free speech polices.

(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss in Boston and Munsif Vengattil in Bengaluru Modifying by Anil D’Silva and Devika Syamnath)