Facebook investors launch desperate bid to oust Mark Zuckerberg - Mashable

Could not care less.

Image: Niall Carson / PA Images / Getty

By Jack Morse2019-04-13 19:18:27 UTC

The call to oust Mark Zuckerberg is coming from inside the house. 

A group of investors have teamed up in an effort to replace the Facebook CEO and board chairman with an independent voice. The plan, put forth in an April 12 SEC filing, doesn't mince words in its critique of the 34-year-old fan of smoked meats. 

"[Zuckerberg's] dual-class shareholdings give him approximately 60% of Facebook's voting shares, leaving the board, even with a lead independent director, with only a limited ability to check Mr. Zuckerberg's power," reads the statement supporting the proposal. "We believe this weakens Facebook's governance and oversight of management."

In other words, even Facebook investors think an unchecked Zuckerberg is bad for business. And in case that wasn't clear enough, they lay out a few examples demonstrating, in their view, how miserably he's screwed things up. 

"We believe this lack of independent board Chair and oversight has contributed to Facebook missing, or mishandling, a number of severe controversies, increasing risk exposure and costs to shareholders," the proposal reads. 

It goes on to provide the following examples: "Russian meddling in U.S. elections," "Sharing personal data of 87 million users with Cambridge Analytica," "Data sharing with device manufacturers, including Huawei that is flagged by U.S. Intelligence as a national security threat," "Proliferating fake news," "Propagating violence in Myanmar, India, and South Sudan," "Depression and other mental health issues, including stress and addiction," and "Allowing advertisers to exclude black, Hispanic, and other 'ethnic affinities' from seeing ads."

The plan, if adopted, would make "the Chair of the Board of Directors, whenever possible, be an independent member of the Board."

Unsurprisingly, Facebook isn't a fan. The company dismissed the need for an independent board chairperson, before reminding the investors in question that they don't really have the votes to pull off this maneuver. 

"In addition," writes Facebook, "our stockholders rejected a similar proposal at our annual meeting of stockholders in 2017."

Even though this specific attempt to pull Zuckerberg's board chairmanship out from under him is destined to fail, the fact that it's a recurring effort sends a warning of looming accountability to the CEO. If not today, then tomorrow. Time will tell if he listens. 

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https://mashable.com/article/facebook-investors-attempt-oust-zuckerberg/

2019-04-13 19:18:00Z
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Draghi, in Rare Move, Sounds Concern Over Fed's Independence - Bloomberg

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1. Draghi, in Rare Move, Sounds Concern Over Fed's Independence  Bloomberg
2. ECB's Draghi worried about Fed's independence  Reuters
3. View full coverage on Google News

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-13/draghi-in-rare-move-expresses-concern-over-fed-s-independence

2019-04-13 18:51:00Z
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World’s Largest Plane, Designed to Carry Satellite-Loaded Rockets, Takes Off From Mojave Desert for 1st Test Flight - KTLA Los Angeles

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World’s Largest Plane, Designed to Carry Satellite-Loaded Rockets, Takes Off From Mojave Desert for 1st Test Flight  KTLA Los Angeles

After years of development in the desert north of Los Angeles, a gigantic, six-engined megajet with the wingspan of an American football field took off from the ...

View full coverage on Google News
https://ktla.com/2019/04/13/worlds-largest-plane-designed-to-carry-satellite-loaded-rockets-takes-off-from-mojave-desert-for-1st-test-flight/

2019-04-13 17:37:00Z
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The world's largest plane just flew for the first time - CNN

Stratolaunch Systems, the company founded in 2011 by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, conducted the first test flight of the world's largest plane.

Basically, Stratolaunch aircraft is a giant flying launch pad, designed to hurtle satellites into low Earth orbit. It aims to offer the military, private companies and even NASA itself a more economical way to get into space.

"Whatever the payload, whatever the orbit, getting your satellite into space will soon be as easy as booking an airline flight," said CEO Jean Floyd in 2018.

The aircraft's wingspan measures 385 feet -- wider than any airplane on the planet. From tip to tail, it's 238 feet long. It weighs half a million pounds. It's so big, it has two cockpits, one in each fuselage (but only one is used to fly the plane.)

"It's the world's biggest airplane. It's so huge, it seems like it shouldn't be able to fly," Jack Beyer, an aerospace and launch photographer for NASASpaceFlight.com, told CNN on Thursday.

He's excited to witness the beginnings of the space industry's rising trend: using jets to launch satellites.

Dozens of photographers, industry bloggers and aerospace enthusiasts gathered this week to glimpse the unique twin-fuselage plane.

"People are interested in the first flight of Stratolaunch because they want to see the future," Beyer said. "It's the same reason why people tune in each year to watch the Apple keynotes. People want to see what's next."

A jet, carrying a rocket, carrying a satellite

Here's how Stratolaunch is supposed to work once the plane is fully tested and certified: The jet, carrying a rocket loaded with a satellite, will take off from Mojave and climb to an altitude of 35,000 feet. There, pilots will launch the rocket from the plane on a trajectory toward space. The plane then will land safety back at Mojave, while the rocket carries the satellite into an orbit ranging from about 300 miles to 1,200 miles above Earth. The rocket deploys the satellite before eventually falling back to Earth, burning up in the sky like a meteor.

Although the cost of the airplane hasn't been made public, other details are known.

To make it both strong and lightweight, Stratolaunch is made largely of carbon fiber material instead of aluminum. To save money on designing new engines and landing gear, the jet is powered by six Pratt & Whitney engines, which were originally designed for Boeing 747s. Its landing gear, which includes a mind-boggling 28 wheels, was also first designed for 747s.

Satellites in low Earth orbit can provide communications and broadband internet connectivity to remote areas on the ground. They can conduct valuable Earth observation and surveillance. The market for commercial satellite launch services is growing rapidly and is expected to reach $7 billion by 2024, according to Global Market Insights.

Putting small satellites into space via airplanes also promises to be cheaper than traditional rocket launches because it eliminates the need for launch pads and all the pricey equipment and infrastructure surrounding a traditional rocket launch.

It also can save on fuel costs, because the plane burns less fuel than a traditional rocket when it blasts off from Earth.

Other benefits: Bad weather won't be as much of a problem. Storms can delay a traditional rocket launch, but a jet could simply take off and fly over bad weather -- or around it -- and then launch the satellite.

Launches could take place more frequently and within a faster time frame. No more waiting in line for a slot to open up on a spacecraft blasting off from a traditional terrestrial launch pad.

Competition from Richard Branson

Though Stratolaunch has only flown once, it's already facing competition from billionaire Richard Branson and his Virgin Orbit company. Its LauncherOne service wants to fling rockets carrying satellites into orbit from a customized Boeing 747-400 -- which, unlike Stratolaunch, is a proven aircraft.

Virgin Orbit plans to conduct its first launch at Mojave Air & Space Port sometime "in the middle of the year."

"We are well on our way towards providing new launch opportunities for small satellites that have waited too long for their ride to space," Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart said Wednesday in a statement.

What's next

Stratolaunch's first flight presents the company with a new set of hoops to jump through before it can start doing business. Pilots will have to test fly the jet many more times before it can be checked and certified by the Federal Aviation Administration.

If all goes as planned, Stratolaunch said the plane is expected to launch its first satellite sometime next year.

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https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/13/business/stratolaunch-worlds-largest-plane/index.html

2019-04-13 14:57:00Z
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Facebook investors will vote to oust Mark Zuckerberg as chairman - Business Insider

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.Reuters

• Facebook's activist shareholders are making another attempt to fire Mark Zuckerberg as chairman and rip up the company's share structure.
• They will vote on two proposals to overhaul Facebook's governance at the social network's annual shareholder meeting on May 30.
• Some investors are unhappy about the tsunami of scandals that have engulfed Facebook and believe that Zuckerberg has too much power.
• Their chances of success are extremely slim, however. Facebook vehemently disagrees with the proposals and Zuckerberg has more than half of the voting power at the firm.
• Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.

Activist Facebook investors are again going to try to oust Mark Zuckerberg as chairman and abolish what they see as the firm's unfair share structure.

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Friday, Facebook gave notice of its annual shareholder meeting on May 30 and confirmed the investor proposals that will be voted on during the event. 

Among eight stockholder proposals, there are two that will be familiar to Zuckerberg and the rest of the board: Investors are making another attempt to force governance changes on the social network.

One is titled 'Stockholder Proposal Regarding an Independent Chair' and makes the case for Zuckerberg to be dethroned as chairman of the board, with an independent executive hired in his place.

Oust Mark Zuckerberg as chairman

Business Insider broke the news of the prosal in July last year after revealing the plans of activist shareholder Trillium Asset Management, which had grown tired of the "mishandling" of scandals including the Cambridge Analytica data breach.

Read more: These investors control $3 billion of Facebook stock — and they want to take Zuckerberg down

Responding to the proposal in the SEC filing, Facebook called on investors to vote it down.

"We believe our board of directors is functioning effectively under its current structure, and that the current structure provides appropriate oversight protections," Facebook said.

"We do not believe that requiring the Chair to be independent will provide appreciably better direction and performance, and instead could cause inefficiency in board and management function and relations."

Getty

The chance of it becoming a reality is extremely slim, despite it being backed by investors that control around $3 billion of Facebook stock. A similar proposal in 2017 was popular among independent investors but was crushed because of Zuckerberg's voting power.

This is because of Facebook's dual-class share structure. Class B shares have 10 times the voting power of class A shares, and it just so happens that Zuckerberg owns more than 75% of class B stock. It means he has more than half of the voting power at Facebook.

Rip up the share structure 

Which is why activist shareholders want to abolish the share structure. At the annual investor meeting, they will have the chance to vote on a proposal, which calls for the introduction of "fair and appropriate mechanisms through which disproportionate rights of Class B shareholders could be eliminated."

It said: "Fake news, election interference, and threats to our democracy -- shareholders need more than deny, deflect, and delay. We urge shareholders to vote FOR a recapitalization plan for all outstanding stock to have one vote per share."

It is not clear which investor has drawn up the proposal, but Facebook again calls for it to be dismissed by shareholders, as they have during the last five annual meetings. "We believe that our capital structure is in the best interests of our stockholders and that our current corporate governance structure is sound and effective," it said.

Facebook will almost certainly get its way. But the two investor proposals mark continued dissatisfaction among shareholders about the way Facebook is run following a year from hell for the company. It also shows that investors continue to believe that Zuckerberg has too much power.

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https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-investors-will-vote-to-oust-mark-zuckerberg-as-chairman-2019-4

2019-04-13 14:39:37Z
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Facebook spends more than $22m on CEO Zuckerberg's safety - Aljazeera.com

Facebook more than doubled the money it spent on Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg's security in 2018 to $22.6m, a regulatory filing showed on Friday.

Zuckerberg has drawn a base salary of $1 for the past three years, and his "other" compensation was listed at $22.6m, most of which was for his personal security.

Nearly $20m went towards security for Zuckerberg and his family, up from about $9m the year prior. Zuckerberg also received $2.6m for personal use of private jets, which the company said was part of his overall security programme.

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Facebook has in the past few years faced public outcry over its role in Russia's alleged influence on the 2016 United States presidential election and has come under fire following revelations that Cambridge Analytica obtained personal data from millions of Facebook profiles without consent. 

Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg took home $23.7m in 2018 compared with $25.2m last year.

Separately, Facebook said Netflix Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings would vacate his seat on the social media company's board and not be nominated for re-election.

Hastings' departure comes as the Menlo Park-based company beefs up its push into videos. Hastings has served on Facebook's board since 2011.

The company also said it would nominate PayPal's senior vice president of core markets, Peggy Alford, to its board in place of University of North Carolina President Emeritus Erskine Bowles, who will also not be renominated. 

SOURCE: Reuters news agency

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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/04/facebook-spends-22-million-ceo-zuckerberg-safety-190413114403008.html

2019-04-13 12:25:00Z
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Mark Zuckerberg's security costs rocket after Facebook's hellish year - INSIDER

• Mark Zuckerberg's security costs hit $20 million in 2018 after a disastrous year for Facebook, in which it became a lightning rod for the techlash.
• By way of comparison, Amazon and Uber spent $1.6 million and $2 million respectively on protecting their CEOs, Jeff Bezos and Dara Khosrowshahi, last year.
• Facebook said "negative sentiment regarding our company is directly associated with, and often transferred to" Zuckerberg.
• It follows a Business Insider investigation, which revealed how Facebook's 6,000-person security army quietly protects Zuckerberg and the firm's 80,000 employees.
• Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.

The cost of keeping Mark Zuckerberg safe got a whole lot more expensive after Facebook's year from hell.

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Friday, the social network revealed its CEO's total compensation package for the 12 months ended 31 December 2018.

Despite only drawing a salary of $1, Zuckerberg's pay more than doubled to $22.6 million last year, up from $9.1 million in 2017. The main reason for this: Zuckerberg's security costs.

In a tumultuous year for his company, in which Zuckerberg had to conduct an apology tour for disasters including the massive Cambridge Analytica data breach, fake news, and election interference by bad actors on his platform.

As such, Facebook spent nearly $10 million on personal protection for the billionaire, both at his home and on his travels. This was up nearly $2.5 million on 2017 and nearly double what the company spent in 2016.

Read more: Car-bomb fears and stolen prototypes: Inside Facebook's efforts to protect its 80,000 workers around the globe

What's more, Zuckerberg's security bill included a "pre-tax allowance" of $10 million to "cover additional costs" associated with keeping not just the CEO safe, but also his family. Zuckerberg is married to Priscilla Chan and they have two children together.

Amazon only spent $1.6 million on Jeff Bezos' security.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

By way of comparison, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was paid just $1.6 million for security reasons, according to a filing this week. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi's compensation included $2 million for protection, the firm's IPO filing revealed.

In the SEC filing, Facebook admitted that Zuckerberg is often a lightning rod for anger at Facebook. He is the face of the company, and when its 2 billion users feel aggrieved, Zuckerberg is targeted.

"He is synonymous with Facebook, and as a result, negative sentiment regarding our company is directly associated with, and often transferred to, Mr. Zuckerberg," Facebook said.

In a statement sent to the Financial Times, the company added: "Mr Zuckerberg is one of the most-recognised executives in the world, in large part as a result of the size of our user base and our continued exposure to global media, legislative and regulatory attention."

A 24-hour guard, bullet-proof glass, and a permanent driver

Business Insider's Rob Price published in March an investigation on Facebook's 6,000-person security army, which quietly protects Zuckerberg and the firm's 80,000 employees worldwide.

It reveals how thousands of people try to gain access to Facebook's Menlo Park headquarters every week to, among other things, meet Zuckerberg. There's a persistent rumour he also has a secret "panic chute" so he can evacuate the building quickly, although the truth of this is unclear.

Here's some insight into how Zuckerberg's security operation works from Business Insider's investigation in March (it has been edited lightly for clarity):

"Armed executive-protection officers stand on constant guard outside his gated homes in the Bay Area (at least one of which also has a panic room). If he goes to a bar, his team will sweep through ahead of time to make sure it's safe. They will vet any new doctors or trainers if he wants to take up a new hobby. He is driven everywhere.

"During company all-hands meetings, members of Zuckerberg's Praetorian Guard sit at the front of the room and are dotted throughout the crowd, just in case an employee tries to rush him. They wear civilian clothes to blend in with nonsecurity employees.

"Facebook's offices are built above an employee parking lot, but it's impossible to park directly beneath Zuckerberg's desk, because of concerns about the risk of car bombs.

"He also has access to a large glass-walled conference room in the middle of the space near his desk, which features bullet-resistant windows and a panic button."

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg.

Reuters

Elsewhere in the Facebook SEC filing, it was revealed that Sheryl Sandberg's security costs also increased marginally from $2.7 million in 2017 to $2.9 million last year. Facebook also spent nearly $1 million on a private aircraft for its chief operating officer.

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https://www.thisisinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-security-costs-rocket-after-facebook-year-from-hell-2019-4

2019-04-13 08:39:32Z
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