Mark Zuckerberg, 35, the chief executive and chairman of the board of directors has been able to survive the leadership vote at the company’s general meeting. He himself controls 60% of the voting power and would have lost only if he voted against himself. Basically, he is not going anywhere anytime soon, until he decides to step down on his own will.
What do the investors say?
The investors of the company called for the step down of the chairman as this would enable him to focus more on running the firm. Trillium Asset Management, owning about$7m shares, also agreed to this. He says Zuckerberg should be inspired by Larry Page and Bill Gates, who are the founders of Google and Microsoft, respectively but not the chairman of the board.
Reactions of the public
Pennsylvania’s treasure, Joe Torsella, attended the meeting and said it is common sense policy to separate the board chair and CEO positions. Moreover, Fight For the Future an activist group, projected “Fire Zuck” on the side of the building where the general meeting was held. The company’s issues with privacy are the reason for the kind of reaction the group is giving out.
The Rage comes to Facebook
Facebook and Zuckerberg have been facing the rage constantly as reports said that the social media platform gathers personal information from about 87 million users without their consent and shares it with Cambridge Analytica, a consulting firm. Alex Stamos, who is the company’s former security chief, is in consent with the investors and stated that “There’s a legitimate argument that he has too much power.
How does Mark own 60% of the voting power?
The voting actually did take place even when Zuckerberg has a 60% vote in the leadership ballot, and Facebook has decided not to reveal the voting figures. The voting system has made sure of the fact that nothing can make the CEO step down the positions unless he decides to do so. Though Zuckerberg owns a lesser share as compared to other investors in the company, the voting policy states that those who invested early gets 10 times the voting power of those who invested later.
Reactions to the voting system
CEO of NorthStar Asset Management, which is one of the investors in the company submitted a proposal to the board of directors suggesting that the voting system should be changed. Julie Goodridge knew that it would get rejected and said that they would resubmit the proposal until and unless the company agrees to do so.
Investors have been arguing upon Zuckerberg stepping down because they consider he has “too much of power” and he needs to focus on laying out strategies in order to deal with a company that has generated such negative governance and management headlines for more than a year. The investors also want access to emails and other documents related to Facebook. The company was accused to not only gather personal information of about 87 million users, but also to use it to influence voting behavior in elections around the world.
Though there has been a lot of controversy, Mark Zuckerberg still stands as the CEO and chairman of the board of directors.
