Yahoo Corporation announced three new members to be appointed to the company’s board of directors. However, the choices are drawing criticism from some of Yahoo’s shareholders, who believe that their opinions weren’t taken into consideration.
The Yahoo board of directors chose to appoint John D. Hayes, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of American Express; Peter Liguori, former Chief Operating Officer of Discovery, and former Chairman and President of Entertainment of Fox; and Thomas J. McInerney, the outgoing Chief Financial Officer of IAC/InterActiveCorp.
Dan Loeb, Chief Executive of the hedge fund Third Point, was upset that none of the people he proposed were appointed. Third Point is Yahoo’s largest outside shareholder, owning six percent of Yahoo’s share.
Loeb proposed that Yahoo appoint four new directors to the board, including himself. The company responded by saying that they believed that appointing Loeb to the company would not be in the company’s best interest. They also accused Loeb of wanting to appoint himself to boost his shares in the company, and that he was only concerned with short-term growth.
In response to the appointments, Loeb plans to file a preliminary proxy statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Loeb will challenge the board’s appointment choices at Yahoo’s next shareholders meeting, and is determined to encourage other shareholders to support him.