Eddy
When I first looked at NVX, I paid particular attention to the people in management and on the Board. I pretty much came to the same conclusion as you did, which is that many of them are pretty high caliber characters.
Especially when I first heard of and looked up the name of Andrew Liveris - boy was I excited!
Like you, I have since then taken the time to look a bit more closely at his background. What I have discovered, includes the following:
1.) His son works at NVX. Now people can have different levels of discomfort on something like this, depending their personal life experience. To me, the fact that his son works at NVX and Andrew Liveris now wants to join the NVX Board is less of an endorsement of the company, than if he did so WITHOUT his son working for NVX. Others can view this differently.
2.) Despite Andrew Liveris being about to join the NVX Board - a cutting edge - battery R&D company, whose raison d'être is the advance of renewable energy, he still actively lobbies the Australian government in support of fracking. Again, as I have state before, I view this as him supporting the fossil fuel industry which is operating in direct competition to NVX - not a good thing for our hard earned money invested in NVX. Sorry, this article is behind a pay-wall:
Energy policy paralysis an investment killer: Andrew Liveris.
However, some quotes from the article include the following:
"He also browbeat NSW, Victoria and the Northern Territory over their moratoriums on onshore gas development, calling the bans "voodooism" and not science.
...
....
He suggested that the leaders of the respective states ask US state governors, who also were in Washington over the weekend and who have onshore gas in their states, "to tell them why banning gas exploration, gas development and fracking is voodooism not science and is costing jobs, growth and industry".
Again, some might not have a problem with Liveris supporting both fossil fuel AND battery technology. Others say he supported oil & gas in the past, but once he joins NVX he surely will only support battery and renewable energy. Whether he wears many hats or one too many hats - everyone can have their own opinion.
3.) I then read the following articles that in my mind raise alarm bells: (
No more champers at the pointy end of the plane &
Dow Chemical's Australian CEO Andrew Liveris challenged on spending for years, documents show). To verify what was written in these articles, I then looked at the actual Dow Chemical proxy statement for 2011 (see page 18 of this SEC filing:
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION - SCHEDULE 14A). Is a person with this type track record really a good thing for NVX minority shareholders?
4.) Finally, I read this absolute rubbish (
'Extreme' Donald Trump is pro-worker: Andrew Liveris ). I appreciate that other's - including Donald Trump himself - believe that the man is a genius. However, for me, if that is Andrew Liveris' assessment of the man, it makes me question his judgement and hence suitability as an NVX Director - irrespective of his DowDuPont background and track record there.
So Eddy, I agree with you, the background of NVX management and Board are critically important to the success or otherwise of NVX and it is a good thing to advise all NVX shareholders to do further research on their backgrounds, so that come the next AGM, shareholders are well-informed when voting for or against any Board appointments.
(20min delay)