Diligent’s Stafford on CEO-Chairmen and Scandal-Driven Board Shakeups
TheStreet Live
English - December 20, 2018 14:27 - 19 minutes - 26.7 MB - ★★★★ - 12 ratingsInvesting Business Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Lead independent directors at U.S. corporations have become more important, especially when it comes to “clubby” boards. That’s the view of Brian Stafford, CEO of Diligent Corp., a board management software company, who spoke with The Deal's Activist Investing Today podcast about a trend of lead independent directors meeting with shareholders and why it often takes scandals – like those witnessed at Wells Fargo, Wynn Resorts and Rite Aid -- to drive boardroom shakeups.
Stafford explains that an activist hedge fund often seeks to find a lead independent director privately to see if he or she is willing to discuss their point of view. He also said 2019 will bring more diverse boards, higher-quality director serving on fewer boards overall and a spike in outside advisers to corporate boards. “The lion’s share of your understanding of how the company is performing is filtered through the company,” he said. “When an activist shares a stat that we’re underperforming our comp set we’re not surprised because we were always given a different set of comps.”