Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) has taken on 21st Century Fox Inc. (NASDAQ:FOX) chief executive, James Murdoch, and Johnson Publishing Co. boss, Linda Johnson Rice, as independent directors.
The electric car maker said Murdoch and Johnson Rice bring a wealth of leadership experience to its board.
Murdoch has been a "key driver" of domestic and international expansion at Fox, Telsa said, adding that he has been “instrumental in the company’s robust social impact initiatives, including its decade-long leadership on environmental sustainability”.
Telsa said Johnson Rice has extensive corporate board experience, having previously served on the boards of Bausch & Lomb , Continental Bank, Quaker Oats, Dial Corporation, MoneyGram and Kimberly-Clark Corporation. She currently is currently on the boards of Omnicom Group (NYSE:OMC) and GrubHub (NYSE:GRUB).
Tesla welcomes Linda Johnson Rice and James Murdoch as new independent directors to its board https://t.co/PPMbMflILh
— Tesla (@TeslaMotors) 17 July 2017
Their appointments come after some shareholders last year criticised Tesla for its practice of staggering its election of board members throughout the year. The shareholder urged Tesla to instead appoint new board members early in the year.
However, at the company’s annual meeting in June, shareholders voted to keep the board terms staggered.
Shares in Tesla dipped 0.245 to US$318.80 in US pre-market trading.
Earlier this month, Tesla began rolling out the production of its first mass-market electric vehicle, the Model 3.
The first 30 customers will receive the Model 3 on 28 July before the car becomes available to the public at a base price of US$25,000, making it more affordable than the company’s other ranges that typically sell for at least US$90,000.