Logitech Chairman of the Board of Directors wins power struggle at AGM
Published: Wednesday, Sep 4th 2024, 17:00
Updated At: Wednesday, Sep 4th 2024, 17:00
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Logitech founder Daniel Borel's rebellion against Wendy Becker, Chairman of the Board of Directors, has once again failed resoundingly. Just under 86 percent of shareholder votes re-elected Becker as Chairwoman at the Annual General Meeting on Wednesday.
Borel's opponent Guy Gecht only received 14% of all votes. However, Gecht had taken himself out of the race shortly before the run-off: "I will not accept my election if I am elected," he told shareholders in Lausanne.
Borel also lost out on another point: Group CEO Hanneke Faber was elected to the Board of Directors, which Borel, the Ethos investment foundation and the Actares shareholders' association rejected.
The election results did not go down well with investors: Logitech shares extended their losses sharply after Becker's election and were down around 5 percent an hour before the close of trading.
Second palace revolt fails miserably
Borel had already tried to force Becker off the Board of Directors last year and failed miserably: the Chairwoman was re-elected with 96% of shareholder votes. Two months ago, Logitech then announced that Becker would no longer be a candidate at the Annual General Meeting in fall 2025. However, Borel wanted her to step down this year.
In the years-long dispute, the company founder criticized Becker several times. He accused her of lacking the know-how to run a technology company like Logitech. He also believes that she should have implemented the cost-cutting measures earlier after the corona boom.
It should also have replaced the then CEO Bracken Darrell sooner. In addition, the business was not performing well and there was a toxic corporate culture, Borel claimed. The company founder wanted to replace Becker with Gecht, who, according to unanimous opinion, had done a good job as interim CEO for seven months last year.
Court rules in favor of Borel
The dispute increasingly escalated. Even the courts had to intervene. At the end of July, a Vaud district court ordered the company to put Borel's proposal to nominate Gecht as a candidate for the chairmanship of the Board of Directors on the agenda.
Logitech had refused to put the proposal of the company founder, who owns 1.5 percent of Logitech shares, to a vote. However, Gecht had already declared at the time that he did not want to become Chairman of the company's Board of Directors.
Borel is also not satisfied with the new CEO Faber. Like Becker, she lacks "sufficient know-how and experience in the high-tech industry", Borel was repeatedly told. The 55-year-old Dutchwoman joined the French-speaking Swiss group from consumer goods giant Unilever.
Faber herself was largely reticent to comment. However, in an interview with "Schweiz am Wochenende" last Saturday, she said: "The figures speak for themselves, we have two good quarters behind us. And I personally think we have a fantastic corporate culture, one of the best I have ever experienced."
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