Tractor Supply CEO Leaves Kirkland's Board Amid Pushback on 'Overboarding'
August 30 2019 - 10:26AM
Dow Jones News
By Colin Kellaher
Kirkland's Inc. (KIRK) on Friday said Greg Sandfort, chief
executive of Tractor Supply Co. (TSCO), has resigned from the
Kirkland board amid a growing push by large investors and proxy
advisers against so-called "overboarding."
In a resignation letter to Kirkland's, Mr. Sandfort said some
large institutional shareholders of Tractor Supply recently have
adopted policies urging public company CEOs to limit themselves to
one outside board membership.
Tractor Supply last week said it launched a search for a
successor to Mr. Sandfort and extended his employment contract
through the end of next year.
Mr. Sandfort, who had been serving on the boards of Tractor
Supply, Kirkland's and WD-40 Co. (WDFC), said he would remain a
director at WD-40 due to his longer tenure on that board and his
role as chairman of the compensation committee.
Major institutional investors, governance advisers and company
boards themselves, concerned that overstretched directors lack time
to adequately handle their duties, in recent years have been are
cracking down on overboarding, trying to ensure that directors
don't spread themselves too thin.
Institutional investors owns about 37% of Tractor Supply,
according to FactSet, led by money-management giant Vanguard Group,
which holds a 10.4% stake.
According to its website, Vanguard says its funds generally will
vote against active executives who sit on more than one public
company board beyond their employer's.
BlackRock Inc. (BLK), the world's largest asset manager, also
has been voting against directors due to overboarding concerns.
BlackRock funds own about 5.5% of Tractor Supply.
Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 30, 2019 11:11 ET (15:11 GMT)
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