>>> Twitter urges shareholders to vote down proposals to adopt co-operative owne

Twitter urges shareholders to vote down proposals to adopt co-operative ownership structure

Twitter, Inc. [NYSE:TWTR] has urged its shareholders to vote down proposals to adopt a co-operative ownership structure. The San Francisco, California-based microblogging service disclosed its opposition to the proposals in a DEF 14A proxy statement filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday, 7 April. The relevant excerpts from the SEC filing follow:

Supporting Statement by Stockholder Proponent
Proposal 4—Exit to Democratic User Ownership
As Twitter users and stockholders, we see how vital the platform is for global media. We are among millions of users that value Twitter as a platform for democratic voice. And in 2016, we’ve seen Twitter’s future in the balance, from challenges of hate speech and abuse to the prospect of a buyout.
That is why we want the company to consider more fully aligning its future with those whose participation make it so valuable: its users. As of today, 3,300 individuals signed a petition at http://wearetwitter.global urging Twitter to build democratic user ownership.
For successful enterprises like the Green Bay Packers, REI, and the Associated Press, their popularity, resilience, and profitability is a result of their ownership structure. Examples of online companies include successful startups like Managed by Q, which allocates equity to office cleaners, and Stocksys United, a stock-photo platform owned by its photographers.
We believe these models point the way forward for Twitter, Inc., overcoming challenges to thrive as a cooperative platform.
A community-owned Twitter could result in new and reliable revenue streams, since we, as users, could buy in as co-owners, with a stake in the platform’s success. Without the short-term pressure of the stock markets, we can realize Twitter’s potential value, which the current business model has struggled to do for many years. We could set more transparent accountable rules for handling abuse. We could re-open the platform’s data to spur innovation. Overall, we’d all be invested in Twitter’s success and sustainability. Such a conversion could also ensure a fairer return for the company’s existing investors than other options, Therefore,
RESOLVED: Stockholders request that Twitter, Inc. engage consultants with significant experience in corporate governance, preferably including conversion of companies to
cooperatives or employee ownership, to prepare a report on the nature and feasibility of selling the platform to its users via a cooperative or similar structure with broad-based ownership and accountability mechanisms. The requested report shall be available to stockholders and investors by October 1, 2017, prepared at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary information.
Vote for Exit to Democratic User Ownership—Proposal 4
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The Company’s Statement of Opposition
Our board of directors has considered the proposal that Twitter engage consultants “to prepare a report on the nature and feasibility of selling the platform to its users via a cooperative or similar structure” and, for the reasons described below, believes that the proposal is not in the best interests of Twitter and our stockholders.
Our board of directors and management are constantly seeking to maximize long-term stockholder value and do so by evaluating all opportunities to strengthen and focus our business. For example, in 2016, we focused on positioning Twitter for long-term sustainable growth and making progress toward profitability under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”). Specifically, we clearly identified who we are—the best and fastest place to see what’s happening in the world and what people are talking about. We built and shipped product features that directly improved our key audience growth and engagement metrics. We also simplified the organization to be what we believe is more focused and efficient, and eliminated investment in non-core areas of our business, like Vine, which we shut down in early 2017, and Fabric, which we sold in early 2017. As a result of this focus, we saw accelerating rates of growth on a year-over-year basis for daily active usage for three quarters in a row.
We believe that preparing a report on the nature and feasibility of selling the “platform,” and doing so only to “its users,” would be a misallocation of resources and a distraction to our board of directors and management—resources and management time that could otherwise be used to build the long-term value of Twitter. The proposal would have Twitter explore the sale of the “platform” to one specific group of people, “its users”, “via a cooperative or similar structure.” The proposal has pinpointed a very specific type of transaction and ownership structure and the board of directors does not believe that the course of action suggested in the proposal would enhance the value of the “platform” or Twitter. Further, limiting exploration of strategic transactions that may enhance stockholder value to one narrow option would not be in accordance with the board of directors’ responsibilities to take actions that are in the best interests of Twitter and its stockholders. We believe Twitter is on track to continue building on the long-term value of Twitter for all of our stockholders as a publicly held corporation and not as a “cooperative or similar structure” owned solely by “its users”. As a publicly traded company, our users are also free to become stockholders of Twitter without any need to change the structure of the company.
For the foregoing reasons, our board of directors believes that this proposal is not in the best interests of Twitter or our stockholders, and unanimously recommends that you vote “AGAINST” this proposal.

Twitter’s market capitalisation stood at USD 10.42bn (EUR 9.83bn) at the close of trading in New York on Friday, 7 April.