Face book CEO Mark Zuckerberg being pressured to resign on spy allegations

Mark Zuckerberg stands to lose his position as Chairman as Facebook shareholders’ are unimpressed by  Scandals that are lowering their shares and want him to resign, more so the recent privacy and election scandals.

Data and Privacy breach Facebooks newly developed voice activated speaker and video chat gadget is alleged to spy on users. Facebook admitted that the portal is able to collect data about a user and use it to target advertisements. The portal voice calling is built on a messenger infrastructure which means it is capable of gathering user’s information on the length and frequency of calls and use the data to generate ads for its site. Nearly a decade ago, Mark Zuckerberg held that privacy was no longer a “social norm.” Recently, Facebook confessed that data breach had affected personal data of 30 million users.

According to Reuters four major U.S. public funds that hold shares in Facebook Inc on Wednesday proposed removing Chief Executive Officer as chairman following several high-profile scandals and said they hoped to gain backing from larger asset managers.State treasurers from Illinois, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania, and New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, co-filed the proposal.

A similar share holder proposal seeking an independent chair was defeated in 2017 at Facebook where Zuckerberg’s majority control makes outsider resolutions effectively symbolic. Zuckerberg holds only 16 percent of Facebook stock but retains 60 percent of the company’s voting rights, making it all but impossible for investors to unseat him against his will

Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs said in an interview that, while an independent chair might not have prevented all the issues, “there might have been fewer of these problems and less of a drop in share price” at the company. Shares of Facebook have had a rocky year, under pressure from revelations about the privacy and operational issues as well as concerns over slowing revenue growth. They closed Wednesday at $159.42, 10 percent lower than at the start of the year and well off a closing high of $217.50 reached on July 25.

At least three of the four public funds supported the 2017 resolution as well. The current proposal, meant for Facebook’s annual shareholder meeting in May 2019, asks the board to create an independent board chair to improve oversight, a common practice at other companies. It cites controversies that have hurt the reputation of the world’s largest social media network, including the unauthorized sharing of user information, the proliferation of fake news, and foreign meddling in U.S. elections.

The 2017 resolution received the support of a slim majority of outside investors, according to the public fund leaders’ calculations. Magaziner and Frerichs said they planned to talk with larger Facebook investors in coming months to seek their support.

Among funds that are Facebook’s largest investors, the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund and Fidelity Contra-fund voted against the 2017 proposal, securities filings show, while the American Funds Growth Fund of America supported it. American Funds representatives did not reply to requests for comment on Wednesday. Spokespeople for Fidelity and Vanguard declined to comment. Contra-fund manager Will Danoff was supportive of Facebook’s response to problems in an investor note in August.

In opposing the 2017 proposal, Facebook said an independent chair could “cause uncertainty, confusion, and inefficiency in board and management function and relations.” Zuckerberg has about 60 percent voting rights, according to a company filing in April. The New York City Pension Funds owned about 4.5 million Facebook shares as of July 31, while Trillium held 53,000 shares.