Cisco's CEO to Join BlackRock's Board
April 05 2017 - 4:29PM
Dow Jones News
By Joann S. Lublin and Sarah Krouse
BlackRock Inc. plans to name Cisco Systems Inc. leader Chuck
Robbins as a director, making him the first technology CEO on the
board of the world's largest money manager.
The expected election of Mr. Robbins at BlackRock's May 25
annual meeting comes ahead of the firm's expanded reliance on
highly sophisticated technology. In one example, BlackRock has long
commercialized an internal risk-management system known as Aladdin,
but is increasingly seeking new ways for its own investors and
customers to use it. The risk management and technology platform
has more than 180 customers and nearly $20 trillion in assets,
BlackRock President Rob Kapito said at an investor conference this
February.
The $5.1 trillion money manager likely will announce the
recruitment of Mr. Robbins later Wednesday, along with this
spring's departure of two older board members. Leaving the board at
that time will be Thomas H. O'Brien, a retired CEO of PNC Financial
Services Group Inc., and David H. Komansky, a retired CEO of
Merrill Lynch & Co.
The 51-year-old Mr. Robbins has run Cisco, a Silicon Valley
network-equipment giant, since 2015 and currently doesn't have any
outside corporate board seats.
For BlackRock's Aladdin system specifically, firm leaders are
currently pitching the technology for risk assessment in the wealth
management industry, improved Wall Street plumbing through
custodians and digitizing money management for retail
investors.
Mr. O'Brien, who turned 80 earlier this year, has been
BlackRock's lead independent director. His successor in that
powerful post will be fellow director Murry S. Gerber, a former CEO
of EQT Corp., according to a person familiar with the
situation.
Following this year's annual meeting, the BlackRock board will
have 18 members. Mr. Robbins will represent the sixth new
independent director added since 2012.
Further board turnover looms.
Under BlackRock's governance guidelines, directors must retire
at age 75 -- unless they had reached 70 years old as of July 2013.
Messrs. O'Brien, Komansky and two other board members were over 75
as of its April 2016 proxy statement. All but one had been a
BlackRock director for at least a decade.
BlackRock and other institutional investors have raised
questions whether long-tenured directors serve shareholders' best
interests. BlackRock revised its U.S. voting guidelines in early
2015 to signal that it might oppose directors with long tenure,
among other perceived shortcomings.
Write to Joann S. Lublin at joann.lublin@wsj.com and Sarah
Krouse at sarah.krouse@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 05, 2017 17:14 ET (21:14 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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