Hugh Johnston, the PepsiCo vice chairman and chief financial officer, has joined Microsoft’s board of directors and left the Twitter board after a year-and-a-half as a director at the social media company.
Microsoft announced the appointment of Johnston this afternoon and also said that Mason Morfit, the president of ValueAct Capital, will not seek re-election at the company’s upcoming shareholders meeting. Morfit joined the board in 2014 as the activist shareholder firm was amassing a large stake in the Redmond company.
“Hugh is an accomplished financial and business leader who brings a depth of experience from his successful career at PepsiCo where he has oversight of finance, IT, e-commerce and the company’s digital transformation,” said John W. Thompson, independent Microsoft board chairman, in a news release announcing the changes. “He is a great addition to Microsoft’s board of directors, and we look forward to working with him.”
Thrilled to join the Board of Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft), a company I have long admired.
— Hugh Johnston (@hughjohnston) September 19, 2017
Johnston is succeeded on the Twitter board by Patrick Pichette, the former Google chief financial officer.
Twitter (@twitter) has a clear mission and strong leadership team and, as I leave the Board, I wish the company continued success.
— Hugh Johnston (@hughjohnston) September 19, 2017
Big news: Patrick @Pichette is joining the Twitter Board! Welcome Patrick! Thrilled to have you.
— jack (@jack) September 19, 2017
Microsoft also announced a quarterly dividend of 42 cents per share and set a date of Nov. 29 for its annual shareholders meeting.