Easy Disputes

An old fashioned boardroom dispute seems to be brewing up at EasyJet that is only tangentially related to the current economic circumstances.

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou is showing all the typical characteristics of an entrepreneur who cannot let go of their company even though it is all grown up.  Alternatively, as some have suggested, he really needs the cash (in which case we really are in a bad way).

As the holder of 29.6% of the shares in the company he is the largest single shareholder and also a non-executive director.  Wielding the muscles this gives him he is pressing for 2 extra seats on the board, a change of strategy and the start of dividend payments.  He is not the first company founder to get twitchy when their baby starts to have a mind of its own and he will not be the last.  Such things are the bedrock of many a shareholder dispute.

The board are seemingly not impressed with this muscle flexing and they include some fairly robust business characters such as Dawn Airey and Sir David Michels.  It is unlikely that they are going to be pushed around.  Fans of old style boardroom disputes must await the next instalment of what is likely to be a fascinating power struggle.

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