Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, easyJet’s founder and largest shareholder holding a 37% stake, has called on easyJet’s chairman, Sir Michael Rake, to resign. Following the Libor scandal, Sir Michael Rake has been promoted to deputy chairman of Barclays. Because Rake also chairs BT Group and the easyJet board, Haji-Ioannou states that Rake is at risk of spreading himself too thinly and should give up his easyJet role. Haji-Ioannou has stated that he was filing papers calling for an extraordinary general meeting to decide Rake’s fate.
EasyJet said on Tuesday: “The Board is disappointed that [Sir Stelios’s] easyGroup has taken this step and will write to shareholders in due course recommending that they vote against this resolution.”
Haji-Ioannou and his family voted against Rake’s reappointment at the airline’s annual general meeting in January.
