Tesla Inc. TSLA has added Airbnb Inc ABNB co-founder Joe Gebbia effective September 25 to its board of directors, the company said in a statement.
Tesla indicated in a regulatory filing that Gebbia is eligible to receive compensation that is consistent with the company’s standard compensation package for outside directors, as previously approved by the board.
Gebbia has waived all entitlement to cash compensation and, like the rest of the board, has waived stock compensation until July 2023. The board has not appointed him to any of its committees, Tesla said in its filing.
Tesla’s board used to have testifies the exit from Oracle Corporation ORCL co-founder Larry Ellison, who did not stand for re-election. The shareholders had supported a proposal for re-election Ira speedwell and Kathleen Wilson-ThompsonBoard members since 2007 and 2018 respectively.
Who is Gebbia?: Gebbia is a designer and entrepreneur who has spent the last 14 years of his career co-founding Airbnb. Most recently, Gebbia left his full-time position in operations and transitioned to a consulting role while serving on the Airbnb and Airbnb boards Airbnb.org.
The company statement said he has also started work on his next start-up, acquiring an interest in the San Antonio Spurs.
Why it matters: Adding Gebbia to the Tesla board of directors may help the company avoid further conflicts with the Tesla Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which has launched multiple investigations to determine that Musk and Tesla continue to honor their agreement, according to a report by CNBC.
photo courtesy: World Bank photo collection on Flickr
