Elliott Wins: Klaus Kleinfeld Steps Down As Arconic CEO After Showing “Poor Judgment”

zerohedge.com / by Tyler Durden / Apr 17, 2017

Paul Singer, whose Elliott Management has been waging a proxy fight with Alcoa spinoff Arconic, demanding CEO replacement, just achieved a key victory when moments ago the company announced that CEO Klaus Kleinfed has stepped down. According to the press release, the departure took place under odd terms, with Kleinfeld stepping down as Chair and CEO “by mutual agreement after the Board learned that, without consultation with or authorization by the Board, he had sent a letter directly to a senior officer of Elliott Management that the Board determined showed poor judgment.”

The release adds that this decision was not made in response to the proxy fight or Elliott Management’s criticisms of the Company’s strategy, leadership or performance and is not in any way related to the financials or records of the Company.

Arconic also hopes that with Kleinfeld’s odd departure, the proxy fight waged by Arconis is now over:

Elliott Management’s central objective – a CEO change – has been realized at Arconic. With the completion of Arconic’s transformative separation transaction last November, the substantial refreshment of its Board composition with seven of its twelve directors having joined the Board since the beginning of last year, and now the departure of Mr. Kleinfeld as CEO and Chair of the Board, it is clear that the Company has recently undergone a tremendous amount of change. It is Elliott Management’s decision whether to continue to burden Arconic and its shareholders with its highly disruptive and distracting proxy fight, or to support Arconic in facilitating an effective CEO search and a strong transition.

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