By Pascal Oparada
Social Media/Tech Reporter
There is a call to oust Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook and CEO from the company’s board.
A group of investors teamed up to replace Zuckerberg with an independent chairman.
The plan was put forward on April 12.
In a 12-point proposal, the statement said:
“Zuckerberg’s dual-class shareholdings give him approximately 60 per cent of Facebook’s voting shares, leaving the board, even with a lead independent director, with only a limited ability to check Mr Zuckerberg’s power.”
“We believe this weakens Facebook’s governance and oversight of management,” the proposal read.
Lack of independent board Chairman and oversight has contributed to Facebook’s many woes, including missing or mishandling a number of severe controversies, increasing risk exposure and costs to shareholders, the proposal reads.
They listed infractions committed by the tech giant under the supervision of Zuckerberg as Russian meddling in the U.S. elections, sharing of data of 87 million users with Cambridge Analytica, Data sharing with device manufacturers such as Huawei, which has been flagged by the U.S. as having espionage agenda, profiteering fake news. Others include inciting violence in Myanmar, India and South Sudan.
The plan, if adopted, would make “the Chair of the Board of Directors, whenever possible, be an independent member of the Board.”
Facebook has dismissed the need for an Independent Chairman of the Board of Directors.
It said that stockholders rejected a similar proposal at an annual meeting of stockholders in 2017.
Zuckerberg holds 60 per cent stake in the Facebook group which comprises WhatsApp, Instagram and the parent company, Facebook.
