BuzzFeed Inc.’s chief authorized officer Rhonda Powell will step down Jan. 2 after the corporate efficiently fought worker challenges over its turbulent preliminary public providing final yr.
David Arroyo, BuzzFeed’s chief compliance officer and head of litigation, will exchange Powell, the media firm disclosed in a Monday securities filing. BuzzFeed employed Arroyo in 2019 after he spent 14 years at Scripps Networks Interactive Inc.
BuzzFeed’s share price plunged after the New York-based firm went public in December 2021. Greater than 70 workers alleged that BuzzFeed leaders didn’t properly instruct them on commerce shares instantly after the IPO.
In October, BuzzFeed scored a win when a Delaware choose dominated the corporate can block arbitration claims from these workers.
“Rhonda has been a major and valued contributor to BuzzFeed from the second she joined us,” firm President Marcela Martin stated in an announcement. “I need to warmly thank her for her spectacular management.”
Powell wasn’t instantly obtainable for remark. BuzzFeed hired her in 2018 following the departure of its first common counsel, Allison Lucas, now a deputy common counsel at clothes retailer Hole Inc.
Arroyo, who has been affiliated with the Minority Company Counsel Affiliation, is a former litigation affiliate at Kirkland & Ellis and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.
He brings a “deep familiarity” and expertise with Powell’s authorized chief position that touches on company regulation, media, and authorities, in addition to a dedication to range and inclusion, Martin stated within the assertion.
Powell had spent practically two years as the highest lawyer for Complicated Media Inc., a youth-focused digital firm that Buzzfeed eventually acquired for $300 million final yr.
As a part of the Complicated deal, BuzzFeed, advised by Fenwick & West, agreed to go public by merging with a particular function acquisition firm. BuzzFeed had beforehand acquired the Huffington Put up from Verizon Communications Inc.
Powell additionally beforehand spent greater than a dozen years in-house at Scripps, which Discovery Communications Inc. bought in 2018 for nearly $12 billion. Discovery is now a part of a media conglomerate known as Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.
Previous to Scripps, Powell spent 4 years in-house at Thomson Reuters Corp. and 4 years as an affiliate at Proskauer Rose. On the regulation agency, Powell was as soon as tasked to be the lead lawyer for New York’s Occasions Sq. Enterprise Enchancment District on its New Yr’s millennium celebration in 2000.
BuzzFeed’s most up-to-date proxy statement reveals that Powell acquired greater than $2 million in whole compensation throughout fiscal 2021, a rise from the roughly $529,000 she was paid the yr earlier than the corporate went public.
Powell owns about $190,000 in BuzzFeed inventory, based on Bloomberg information.
