[Techtaffy Newsdesk]
Reed Hastings, founder, chairman and CEO of Netflix, is not seeking re-election to Microsoft’s board of directors. Mr. Hastings, who currently serves as the lead independent director on the Microsoft board, will continue to serve through the annual meeting of Microsoft shareholders in November 2012. The board will appoint a new lead independent director at that time.
The Microsoft board has traditionally ranged between nine and 11 members. The board added two new members earlier this year, with John W. Thompson, CEO of Virtual Instruments and former chairman and CEO of Symantec, joining in February, and Stephen J. Luczo, chairman, president and CEO of Seagate Technology, joining in May.
With Mr. Hastings’ decision, nine directors have been nominated for re-election to the Microsoft board: Bill Gates, chairman, Microsoft; Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft; Dina Dublon, former chief financial officer, JPMorgan Chase; Maria M. Klawe, president, Harvey Mudd College; Stephen J. Luczo, chairman, president and CEO, Seagate Technology; David F. Marquardt, general partner, August Capital; Charles H. Noski, former vice chairman, Bank of America.; Dr. Helmut Panke, former chairman of the board of management, BMW; and John W. Thompson, CEO, Virtual Instruments.
[Image Courtesy: Netflix]