Twitter board shake-up: Martha Lane Fox and Hugh Johnston replace Peter Currie and Peter Chernin

Twitter is adding two new members to its board of directors, an SEC filing reveals today.

The social network revealed that Martha Lane Fox, the British cofounder of travel website LastMinute.com, and PepsiCo vice president and chief financial officer (CFO) Hugh Johnston have been elected.

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Given that two new members are joining the board, two members are, of course, leaving. They are Peter Chernin, chairman and CEO of The Chernin Group, and Peter Currie, an entrepreneur and former CFO at Netscape during the 1990s. Twitter said that both Chernin and Currie requested that they not be considered for reelection, but they will remain on the board until the next annual stockholders’ meeting.

Martha Lane Fox brings two immediately apparent benefits to Twitter, the first, that she is a woman — Twitter has faced considerable criticism in recent times for its lack of diversity — and second, that she’s actually active on Twitter, meaning she understands what it’s all about. Hugh Johnson, on the other hand, isn’t quite so active.

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I'm joining the board of @twitter Thanks @jack @omidkordestani I can't wait. Best. Job. Ever. Watch out silicon valley :-))

— martha lane fox (@Marthalanefox) April 8, 2016

Jack Dorsey took to Twitter to confirm that more changes to the board would be coming soon, with “diversity” very much the name of the game.

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More additions to the board soon, ones that will bring diversity and represent the strong communities on Twitter. This matters & is a must.

— jack (@jack) April 8, 2016