Haute 100: Mark Zuckerberg Re-Elects Board Member Peter Thiel

Mark Zuckerberg, alongside all of the Facebook board members, has decided to re-elect fellow board member and Haute 100 lister Peter Thiel.

Zuckerberg’s decision comes following weeks of controversy over whether it is appropriate for Thiel, who admitted to secretly funding a campaign of third-party lawsuits to bankrupt Gawker Media, to remain as a board member of the social network company.

During the company’s annual shareholders meeting, which occurred Monday, June 20^th, Zuckerberg used the opportunity to address issues that may occur in the foreseeable future. The members voted to create a new class of non-voting stock, allowing Zuckerberg to sell shares without having to concede any of his majority voting control.

Additionally, during the meeting investors had the chance to address some pressing concerns. These included concerns about bias following revelations that its trending news feed may be weighted against conservative news organizations. The company said again that its investigation didn’t find any systemic bias. Zuckerberg also answered a question a shareholder had regarding the company’s plan to merge its Messenger and WhatsApp messaging services. About 2 billion people use the two services. “We’re not planning on combining them,” Zuckerberg said, reaffirming they serve different purposes.

The company continued to address subject matters such as terrorism, reiterating it will continue to keep a close eye on terrorism, removing any type of content whenever it’s reported. The company said it works with law enforcement if there’s an imminent threat. The more people who use the platform, the more it combats extremism and terrorism, executives said.

For those of you unfamiliar with Thiel’s involvement with the third-party lawsuits to bankrupt Gawker Media, former wrestler Hulk Hogan sued Gawker Media for invasion of privacy after it published a sex tape, and a Florida jury awarded the wrestler with $140 million. What the public did not know is Thiel was secretly gave $10 million towards the lawsuit.

Featured photo via Flickr