Tech billionaire and climate change advocate Mike Cannon-Brookes has won shareholder approval to overhaul the board of Australian energy giant AGL Energy, in a move likely to see the accelerated shutdown of coal-fired power generators in favour of renewable energy.
On Nov. 15, AGL’s annual general meeting approved the onboarding of four new directors, Mark Twidell, former Tesla Energy director; Kerry Schott, former chair of the Energy Security Board; Christine Holman, director at Metcash; and Prof. John Pollaers.
The four were supported by Cannon-Brookes’ private company, Grok Ventures, which holds 11.3 percent of AGL’s shares, making him the largest shareholder.
While the current board rejected three of the four directors, citing a lack of experience in the field, Cannon-Brookes was able to get his way by garnering support from other shareholders as well as proxy advisors….