Across the Board
Dear Tesla Board: Elizabeth Warren Demands Accountability
A week after Tesla’s shareholders questioned Elon Musk’s commitment to the company, Senator Elizabeth Warren weighs in with a strongly worded letter to the Tesla board.
“Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has sent a letter to the chairman of Tesla’s board raising concerns that CEO Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter is hurting shareholders and creating serious conflicts of interest that may violate the law… She asks how Tesla’s board is dealing with ‘conflicts of interest, misappropriation of corporate assets, and other actions by Mr. Musk that appear not to be in the best interests of Tesla and its shareholders’... Musk could give Tesla’s competitors favorable advertising deals to maximize revenue to Twitter in a way that creates ‘potential injury to Tesla’ or may shift Twitter algorithms to give Tesla products higher profile and suppress criticism of the company” THE HILL
Investors Claim Musk “Not Suited” to Head Twitter
In the meantime, Ross Gerber, who’s an investor in both Tesla and Twitter, questions Musk’s ability to helm both companies and properly represent shareholders.
“Elon Musk is ‘not suited’ to run Twitter Inc. and should instead focus on repairing the damage his acquisition has done to Tesla Inc.’s brand, according to an investor in both companies. To the extent that Musk remains involved with the social media platform, it should be with the underlying technology rather than as the ‘front-facing CEO,’ Ross Gerber, head of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth Management, said in an interview with Bloomberg…” BLOOMBERG
The People Have Spoken: Musk Should Step Down
Elon Musk asked Twitter a huge yes/no question: Should he stay or go as CEO of Twitter? They emphatically answered in the affirmative.
“Musk said on Sunday he would abide by the results of the poll, but did not give details on when he would step down if results said he should. He had said that there is no successor yet. About 57.5% votes were for ‘Yes’, while 42.5% were against the idea of Musk stepping down as the head of Twitter, according to the poll the billionaire launched on Sunday evening. Over 17.5 million people voted…” REUTERS
Epic Games Ordered to Pay Up in FTC Settlement
Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, is set to pay over half a billion dollars to resolve FTC allegations that the company invaded children’s privacy and baited consumers into unintended purchases.
“Epic Games Inc. has agreed to pay $520 million to resolve Federal Trade Commission allegations that the ‘Fortnite’ video game developer violated online privacy protections for children and tricked players into making unintended purchases… As part of the dual settlements, the FTC said Epic is required to make a number of changes to ‘Fortnite’ to protect users as well as to establish a privacy program that addresses the problems identified in its complaints. The company must also obtain regular, independent audits, the agency said.” THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Corporate Governance Evolution in an Age Focused on Sustainability
Read here about the key takeaways from the Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) study regarding the evolution of corporate governance amid increased sustainability awareness.
“Major regulatory initiatives in Europe and in the United States could encourage the consideration of sustainability issues in boards of directors’ decision making. A focus on stakeholders’ interests is currently permitted by certain legislation. While this possibility exists in France and in the United States, only a few medium- and large-sized listed companies have opted for the so-called benefit corporation status." HARVARD LAW SCHOOL FORUM ON CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Boards are Feeling the Pressure from Biodiversity Shareholder Activism
An influx of shareholder activism, environmental stewardship, and advocates of “Natural Capital” are putting pressure on public company boards.
"With natural capital depletion and biodiversity loss estimated to result in a decline in global GDP of $2.7 trillion annually by 2030, institutional investors are increasingly defining and grappling with these issues, forming organized coalitions, and deciding to press public companies for action, enhanced board oversight and new disclosures… Reflecting the growing awareness and pressure on these issues, shareholders brought the highest number of Rule 14a-8 shareholder proposals relating to deforestation, recycling, pesticide use and pollution in recent years" HARVARD LAW SCHOOL FORUM ON CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
From Boardspan this Week: Leading with Culture
Establishing and reinforcing good corporate culture is one of the cornerstones of doing business ethically and avoiding scandal.
Abby Adlerman, Ginni Rometty, and Teresa Clarke: How Boards Can Lead with Culture
Boardspan CEO Abby Adlerman recently shared a panel with former IBM Chair Ginni Rometty and Teresa Clarke, Chairman and CEO of Africa.com for the Teneo/EWOB webcast, “The Board’s Changing Role in Culture”. It was a terrific discussion. Hear them weigh in on topics including:
- The roles of the board and the CEO in leading on culture
- Developing a strong culture within the board itself
- Does the CHRO belong in the boardroom?
The Board’s Changing Role in Culture
5 Ways Boards Lead on Culture
More thoughts on leading on corporate culture in this recent blog post:
https://boardspan.com/blog/5-ways-boards-lead-on-culture
