Tesla Names James Murdoch and Linda Johnson Rice to Board -- Update
17 Luglio 2017 - 11:09PM
Dow Jones News
By Tim Higgins
Tesla Inc., which has faced criticism from its investors about a
lack of independent directors, named 21st Century Fox Inc. Chief
Executive James Murdoch and Ebony Media CEO Linda Johnson Rice to
its board.
The appointments announced Monday expands Tesla's board to nine
people, including the Silicon Valley auto maker's CEO, Elon
Musk.
In April, Mr. Musk suggested Tesla would appoint two additional
directors when he responded on Twitter to a group of five
investors, including the California State Teachers' Retirement
System, that were calling for improved corporate governance. Among
the changes, the investors requested Tesla recruit two new
directors that don't have prior personal or professional ties with
Mr. Musk.
Mr. Murdoch is the son of Rupert Murdoch, the executive chairman
of Fox and News Corp, publisher of The Wall Street Journal. James
Murdoch, who also serves on the board of News Corp and is the
chairman of Sky PLC, replaced his father as CEO of Fox in 2015.
Ms. Rice, who had been chairman emeritus of Ebony Media
Holdings, returned to run the holding company that includes Ebony
magazine earlier this year after selling the family-owned Johnson
Publishing last year. She has been active on other boards,
including as a director for Omnicom Group Inc. since 2000 and
GrubHub Inc. She becomes Tesla's second female director.
Besides Mr. Musk, who is chairman, Tesla's board includes his
brother; a former top executive for SolarCity Corp., where Mr. Musk
has served as chairman; two longtime venture-capital investors in
Tesla; a private-equity investor and a telecommunications
executive.
Mr. Musk is under intense scrutiny as he races to ramp up
production of the Model 3, a new $35,000 sedan that he expects will
fuel massive sales growth next year. He has projected Tesla will
make a total of 500,000 vehicles in 2018, up from about 84,000 last
year.
Enthusiasm for the Model 3 has sent shares soaring more than 50%
this year, though the stock has fallen in the past few weeks --
including 2.5% on Monday -- following disappointing second-quarter
sales figures. On Saturday, Mr. Musk told a group of U.S. governors
that he believed the company's market value was greater than Tesla
deserved.
Write to Tim Higgins at Tim.Higgins@WSJ.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 17, 2017 16:54 ET (20:54 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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