Some shareholders expressed disappointment in the move, saying the appointment leaves the board with only two women and also that Houson, like Zuckerberg, is a founder who holds both chairman and CEO roles at Drop box. “He has not exhibited at his own company an understanding of the importance of an independent board chairman or strong shareholder rights,” Jonas Kron, of Trillium Asset Management, said.
Trillium has in the past urged Facebook to appoint an independent chair. The shareholder noted that Zuckerberg has been chair since 2012 and that that this leaves the board with only a limited ability to check the CEO’s power. Most of Facebook’s outside shareholders have in the past voted in favour of separating Facebook’s chief executive and board chairman roles. These proposals have failed, largely because Zuckerberg controls the majority of Facebook’s voting stock through supervoting shares.
