Former AT&T chairman Randall Stephenson resigned from the PGA Excursion’s coverage board over issues concerning the excursion’s proposed partnership with Saudi Arabia’s nationwide wealth capitaltreasury, The Washington Put up reported Sunday.
The PGA Excursion showed the retirement in a memo to its contributors, regarding Stephenson’s “exemplary service” for greater than 12 years.
Stephenson retired as chairman and CEO of AT&T in June 2020.
The Post said it obtained a copy of his letter, which was once dated Saturday and mentioned the excursion’s framework word of honour with Saudi Arabia’s Community Funding Treasure “is not one that I can objectively evaluate or in good conscience support, particularly in light of the U.S. intelligence report concerning Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.”
Khashoggi, a Washington Put up contributing columnist and critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was once slain on the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. U.S. judgement concluded the crown prince most probably authorized the killing, which the crown prince denies.
PGA Excursion commissioner Jay Monahan surprised each and every nook of the golfing global — together with his personal club — when he introduced on June 6 a partnership with the PIF, which had paid for the rival LIV Golfing League and was once a part of antitrust proceedings in opposition to the PGA Excursion.
The word of honour, which nonetheless calls for PGA Excursion board approbation and is being checked out via the Justice Area, would develop a for-profit corporate wherein the PIF, the PGA Excursion and the Eu excursion would lake their business trade and media rights.
Monahan will be the CEO and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the PIF governor, can be chairman of the untouched corporate. Al-Rumayyan additionally would have a seat at the PGA Excursion board, despite the fact that the PGA had guarantees within the initial do business in that it will all the time have a majority vote.
Stephenson mentioned he supposed to renounce on June 12, however nearest Monahan stepped away with a scientific factor. Monahan introduced Friday he would go back to paintings on July 17.
“I joined this board 12 years ago to serve the best players in the world and to expand the virtues of sportsmanship instilled through the game of golf,” Stephenson mentioned in his letter. “I hope, as this board moves forward, it will comprehensively rethink its governance model and keep its options open to evaluate alternative sources of capital beyond the current framework agreement.”
The ten-member PGA Excursion board is composed of 5 avid gamers and 5 distant administrators. Two of them are board chairman Ed Herlihy and Jimmy Dunne, who joined Monahan in negotiating the do business in with Al-Rumayyan over seven weeks.
The others are funding supervisor Mark Flaherty, a board member for Goldman Sachs, and Mary Meeker, a mission capitalist.
The retirement comes 3 days sooner than Dunne and Ron Value, the excursion’s COO, are to testify sooner than a congressional subcommittee that wishes extra main points at the partnership between the PGA Excursion and the Saudi wealth capitaltreasury.
Consistent with the excursion’s bylaws, the 4 distant administrators are to select who replaces Stephenson nearest consulting with the 5 avid gamers at the board and John Lindert, the PGA of The us president who’s a non-voting board member.
There is not any presen body to fill the spot.
