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- The Board Beat: March 1, 2024
The Board Beat: March 1, 2024
SEC looking at OpenAI investor transparency. The Michael Moritz board debate at Klarna. Nextdoor's CEO change. Activists coming after Disney.
Chuck Isgar
March 01, 2024
Hello, Above Board readers. You asked and we’re excited to try something new: a roundup of recent board-related news.
Sequoia’s presence on Klarna’s board
The Information shared that Matt Miller at Sequoia wanted Michael Moritz (a VC legend and the one who first led Sequoia’s investment into Klarna in 2010) off the Klarna board. Then, they abandoned this plan:
“Upon a fuller assessment, we’ve withdrawn our [emergency general meeting] request. We fully support Michael as chairman of Klarna, and as we have already stated, we’re excited to continue to back [Klarna chief executive] Sebastian [Siemiatkowski] and Klarna on their path to IPO and beyond,” Sequoia said in a statement.
So what happened next? Sequoia had Andrew Reed take over for Miller on the board. Moritz remains the Chairman of the Board. Sequoia still owns 22% of Klarna.
The Sam Altman controversy continues, with the SEC now taking a look
Remember a few months back how the board at OpenAI got rid of CEO Sam Altman… and then brought him back a little while after? The story isn’t over yet, it seems, according to the WSJ: the SEC is looking into this matter more to ensure that investors of OpenAI were not misled.
At the same time, the law firm WilmerHale has been helping OpenAI understand what happened during those dramatic days of proposed-and-reversed change at the company.
What’s old is new at Nextdoor
The board at Nextdoor has been debating who should serve in the CEO role. It has been announced that Co-Founder Nirav Tolia is returning to the company as CEO, replacing outgoing CEO Sarah Friar. The company has also been considering a sale, according to The Information.
Blackwells Capital: “Disney will never be valued as a technology firm, until it begins to think like a technology firm”
Blackwells Capital wants Disney to bring on a new CTO. They also claim that Disney’s board does not have enough people with technology expertise. They’ve nominated three directors with venture capital, tech, and media experience. Disney’s response to shareholders:
“The dissident nominees are unqualified and have no meaningful plan to deliver superior shareholder value.”