– CNBC reported that 23andMe appointed three new independent directors to its board, a month after all seven of its previous directors resigned. The new board members are Andre Fernandez, the former CFO of WeWork; Jim Frankola, the former CFO of Cloudera; and Mark Jensen, a tech adviser and former managing partner at Deloitte, according to a release. The only other board member is 23andMe’s co-founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki.
Fernandez, Frankola and Jensen will all sit on the board’s audit committee and compensation committee, the company said. Jensen will be lead independent director and chair of the compensation committee, while Fernandez will chair the audit committee.
‘I am excited to welcome these three experienced directors to the 23andMe board and [am] looking forward to working with them,’ Wojcicki said in a release. The company’s previous independent directors announced their resignation in a letter to Wojcicki in September, writing that they disagreed with her about the ‘strategic direction for the company’.
– Reuters (paywall) reported that Paris-based investment fund CIAM said it would appeal to France's financial watchdog AMF to ensure shareholder rights are respected in Vivendi's plan to split up, calling for a public offer to be launched for company shares. Vivendi's proposal involves splitting the media group into three separate entities – broadcasting group Canal+, advertising business Havas and Louis Hachette Group – listed respectively in London, Amsterdam and Paris.
Investors would have until December 13 to buy Vivendi shares and participate in the split, the group said after confirming that current supervisory board chair Yannick Bollore would keep the same role in all the spin-offs.
CIAM says the spin-offs could bypass French stock-market laws protecting minority shareholders. ‘Only Vivendi's controlling shareholder, the Bollore Group, would benefit from the listing of the three units on foreign or less regulated markets,’ the investor said in a statement.
Vivendi could not immediately be reached for comment.
– According to The Wall Street Journal Starbucks is increasing its efforts to enforce its return-to-office mandate, warning employees to comply with the policy or risk termination. The company will be instituting an ‘accountability process’ in January to ensure corporate employees meet requirements to work in the office three days a week, according to an internal message.
Starbucks said that the company’s expectations for hybrid corporate employees haven’t changed but it is reminding workers they must follow them. Starbucks isn’t increasing the number of days employees are back in the office. ‘We are continuing to support our leaders as they hold their teams accountable,’ a spokesperson said.
– Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said he agreed with some of activist investor Starboard Value’s criticisms but maintained that the company is headed in a good direction, according to CNBC. ‘I agree that the total shareholder return right now is very poor. Why is that? Because we had a significant drop last year,’ he said. ‘I think we are doing a lot of changes. But if Starboard, and anybody else for that matter, have good ideas, I will certainly discuss them and entertain.’
The activist investor has accused Pfizer management of losing a significant amount of value by failing to take advantage of gains from Covid-related products. Bourla contended that the company has made positive changes, saying it has cut costs, added new board members and is in the middle of appointing a new head of research.
– GSK, Holcim and Gucci owner Kering became the first companies to adopt science-based targets to protect nature established by a new group that aims to reduce biodiversity loss resulting from human activity, the WSJ reported. The Science Based Targets Network’s (SBTN) measures are focused initially on protecting land and reducing freshwater usage. The three companies’ adoption of the non-profit’s targets comes amid a growing push for companies to pay more attention to their impact on the natural world.
‘Just as modern life depends on the goods and services that companies produce, corporations depend on the goods and services that nature produces,’ said Martha Stevenson, senior director of strategy and research for forests at WWF US. She highlighted timber, fresh water and fisheries as examples.
‘Companies that set science-based targets for nature will identify their most significant business and financial risks to this current nature decline,’ Stevenson said. ‘The targets will guide companies to address these risks through impact reduction and build resilience in critical sourcing areas by keeping nature intact.’
Thousands of companies have set science-based targets in relation to climate, including the SBTN’s initial trio.
– According to CNN, Google reportedly owes the Russian government more than 2 undecillion rubles — a 2 followed by 36 zeroes — after refusing to pay fines that are now accruing for blocking pro-Russian channels on YouTube. The penalty amounts to $20 decillion, or around $20 billion trillion trillion. At $110 trillion, according to International Monetary Fund figures, world gross domestic product looks modest in comparison.
CNN has contacted Google for comment. In quarterly earnings published this week, the company referred to ‘ongoing legal matters’ relating to its business in Russia. ‘Civil judgments that include compounding penalties have been imposed upon us in connection with disputes regarding the termination of accounts, including those of sanctioned parties,” Google said. ‘We do not believe these ongoing legal matters will have a material adverse effect [on earnings].’
A Kremlin spokesperson admitted that he ‘can’t even pronounce this figure right’ but said the sum was ‘filled with symbolism.’
– Peloton said it has appointed Peter Stern, a Ford executive and the co-founder of Apple Fitness+ to be its next CEO and president, CNBC reported. Stern, the president of Ford Integrated Services, primarily oversees the automotive company’s subscription services, such as BlueCruise, Pro Intelligence, connectivity and security. He also led the company’s digital product team.
He is scheduled to step down from his role at Ford and take the helm of Peloton on January 1. Interim co-CEO Karen Boone will stay in the role until the end of the calendar year, while her counterpart Chris Bruzzo will step down from the co-CEO role on Friday. Both Boone and Bruzzo will stay on Peloton’s board.
Ben Maiden
Ben Maiden is the editor-at-large of Governance Intelligence, an IR Media publication, having joined the company in December 2016. He is based in New York. Ben was previously managing editor of Compliance Reporter, covering regulatory and compliance...
