Calif. pension fund says Facebook's board needs women

Facebook is under fire for having an all-male board of directors.

The California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) sent a letter to Facebook yesterday complaining that the world's largest social network doesn't have women on its board. The organization also criticized Facebook for having a small board.

"We are disappointed that the Facebook board will not have any women members," CalSTRS corporate governance director Anne Sheehan wrote to Facebook, according to Reuters, which obtained a copy of the letter. "We believe that investors and the company would benefit from a larger, more diverse board."

CalSTRS is the second-largest pension fund in the U.S. The organization provides retirement benefits and services to teachers in public schools and community colleges, and currently holds some ownership in Facebook. The organization says that it plans to hold Facebook common stock when the company goes public.

For such a prominent company, Facebook's seven-member board is somewhat small. The company's co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is board chairman. He's flanked by venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, Accel Partners shareholder Jim Breyer, Washington Post Company chairman and CEO Donald E. Graham, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, University of North Carolina President Emeritus Erskine Bowles, and Founders Fund partner Peter Thiel.

Google's board, meanwhile, is made up of 10 directors, including three women. Apple has one female director on its eight-person board.

It's not immediately clear why CalSTRS is taking aim at Facebook now, since it's been holding company stock for quite some time. However, the letter is likely a response to Facebook's decision last week to file for an initial public offering. The social network hopes to raise $5 billion on a $100 billion IPO.

Neither Facebook nor CalSTRS immediately responded to CNET's request for comment on the letter.