Four Corteva Directors Left At 12:03 A.M. Thursday As Seed Spin Took Effect, 8-K Shows
Chuck Magro and three other directors resigned with the Vylor separation, and Luke Kissam joined the board as chief executive.
Four directors, including Charles V. Magro, left Corteva's board at 12:03 a.m. on Thursday, October 1, the moment the seed business separated into Vylor, according to an 8-K filed Wednesday. Luther "Luke" Kissam joined the board at the same time and is Corteva's chief executive.
What the 8-K says
Besides Magro, the directors who resigned were Kerry J. Preete, Marcos M. Lutz and Karen H. Grimes. Preete, Lutz and Grimes also gave up their committee seats. Grimes sat on the Audit Committee, all three served on the People and Compensation Committee, and Lutz and Preete were also on the Science and Innovation Committee.
The company said each resignation is tied to the separation and is not the result of any disagreement over its operations, policies or practices.
Four officers also resigned at the same moment: Magro, David P. Johnson, Samuel R. Eathington and Judd M. O'Connor. The filing says this was previously disclosed in an April 14 8-K.
Who runs Corteva now
Kissam is chief executive. Jeff Rudolph is chief financial officer, Brook Cunningham is chief commercial officer and Ralph Ford is chief integrated operations officer. The filing says all four appointments were also previously disclosed in the April 8-K, and the new directors and officers have no family ties to existing leaders.
The filing lists the rebuilt committees. Patrick J. Ward chairs Audit, Janet P. Giesselman chairs Governance and Compliance, David C. Everitt chairs People and Compensation, and Klaus A. Engel chairs Science and Innovation.
Rudolph signed the filing as CFO. It is dated Wednesday, October 7, though the changes took effect October 1.
The Vylor side
Corteva split its seed segment into Vylor, which began trading on the New York Stock Exchange as VYLR on October 1, according to a Vylor press release. The release identifies Magro as Vylor's CEO and quotes him saying the company was created to "reimagine agriculture."
Vylor says it carries a $19 billion technology pipeline into independence, according to the same release.
In Wednesday after-hours trading, about 4:59 p.m. ET, Corteva shares were up 0.48% at $14.52, versus the $14.45 regular close. The filing was accepted at 5:09 p.m. ET.
Corteva's first results under Kissam and Rudolph will show how the company performs without the seed business.
