Ben Macmahon/AAP Image via AP
Tesla CEO Elon Musk talks about the development of the world's biggest lithium-ion battery in Adelaide, Australia, on July 7, 2017.
Tesla has taken a step toward greater by naming Linda Johnson Rice, an African American executive who leads the Johnson Publishing Company, to serve as an independent director on its board, along with James Murdoch, CEO of 21st Century Fox. The move comes after a year of criticism by some shareholders that Tesla’s board was too insular.
Johnson Rice’s company JPC publishes Ebony and Jet magazines and is the parent of Fashion Fair Cosmetics. She becomes the second woman on Tesla’s board, joining Juniper Networks’ Robyn Denholm.
“Linda has extensive corporate board experience, having previously served on the boards of a number of companies across a variety of industries, including Bausch & Lomb, Continental Bank, Quaker Oats, Dial Corporation, MoneyGram and Kimberly-Clark Corporation, and currently serving on the boards of Omnicom Group and Grubhub,” Tesla said in a statement on Monday. She also works with the Art Institute of Chicago, the Chicago Public Library Board of Directors and The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
Linda Johnson Rice, Chairman of the Johnson Publishing Company, at the dedication ceremony for the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture in September 2016.
Her appointment, along with Fox’s Murdoch, comes a year after an investor group called on Tesla’s Elon Musk to bring in two outside board members. In June 2016, CtW Investment Group, which at the time held about 200,000 shares, said the company needed to take a series of steps to fix “underlying governance deficiencies," according to a Reuters report. CtW works with labor union-affiliated pension funds.
On April 12, Musk belatedly dismissed criticism from CtW via Twitter. “This investor group should buy Ford stock. Their governance is amazing ...,” he tweeted, replying to Reuters’ story from June 28, 2016.
Murdoch’s participation on Tesla’s board as an independent director creates a connection between Musk’s company and the vast global cable and entertainment media group formed by Rupert Murdoch, James’ father.
The board member announcements came after the close of trading, which saw Tesla shares slide 2.6 percent to $319.21. The decline was initially linked to a report that a Tesla electric vehicle crashed in Minnesota after the driver engaged its Autopilot semi-automated driving system. The driver later recanted his claim that Autopilot was engaged at the time of the crash.
Tesla will hand over the first 30 units of its $35,000 Model 3 on July 28 and is to release second-quarter results on Aug. 2.
Alan Ohnsman covers the intersection of technology, autos and mobility. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.
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