Twitter names first female board member
Twitter hopes appointing former Pearson CEO Marjorie Scardino to its board will put some angry Tweeters to rest -- at least for awhile.
Ever since Twitter first announced its intent to go public and subsequently filed an S-1 form with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, one sticking point has been increasingly controversial.
That is the lack of female leadership at the company -- namely on Twitter's board of directors.
The San Francisco-headquartered company is hoping to calm down some of those critics, even just for a short while, with its latest appointment.
In an 8-K filing with the SEC on Thursday, Twitter revealed that it is finally adding a woman to its board of directors. The new board member is Marjorie Scardino, who served as chief executive officer of media giant Pearson until the end of 2012.
According to the filing, Scardino's term will run through at least the 2014 annual stockholders meeting. She has also been appointed to the Board's audit committee, replacing David Rosenblatt, CEO of the curated online marketplace 1stdibs.com.
Prior to Pearson, Scardino also ran The Economist Group as CEO while also serving on the board of directors at Nokia.
Given Scardino's extensive resume and previous experience, it's clear that Twitter is tapping into her media and marketing expertise as the social network further hones its entertainment-tethered revenue strategies.
As with almost any piece of Twitter news these days as the post-IPO hangover wears off, there's also a nugget about stock options:
In connection with her election to the Board, Ms. Scardino was granted a restricted stock unit award on December 4, 2013 covering 4,018 shares of the Company's common stock. The restricted stock unit award will vest quarterly over one year, subject to continued service on the Board on each applicable vesting date. Notwithstanding this vesting schedule, the vesting of the restricted stock unit award granted to Ms. Scardino will vest in full upon a "change in control" (as defined in the Company's 2013 Equity Incentive Plan). The restricted stock unit award is subject to the terms and conditions of the Company's 2013 Equity Incentive Plan and the related restricted stock unit award agreement.
This story originally appeared as "Former Pearson CEO first woman appointed to Twitter board" on ZDNet.