Magna International founder Frank Stronach has officially stepped down as chairman of the giant autoparts maker the immigrant Austrian toolmaker founded in Canada decades ago.
Magna said in March that Stronach, 78, would give up the chairman role at its annual meeting on Wednesday (4 May), Dow Jones noted. It was the latest move by the Aurora, Ontario-based company’s long-time driving force to disengage from the operation after receiving $1bn in shares, cash and consulting fees last year to allow Magna to collapse its controversial dual-class share structure.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Stronach remains a company director and has been a Magna board member since December 1968 and chairman since November 1971.
In Magna’s latest annual report, Stronach cited “the increasingly restrictive rules governing the management of (public) companies” as one of the factors behind his decision to relinquish voting control.
Stronach told shareholders he needed voting control to operate Magna earlier on with an “iron fist” in order to fuel its growth. But he had no regrets giving up voting control now, he said.
On Wednesday he advised Magna’s board and executive team against the pitfalls of taking on excessive debt. In the early 1990s, Magna almost collapsed because of its debt load and Stronach vowed at the time he would never put the company at risk like that again.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalData“I’ve never seen a company go broke if it has money in the bank,” he said.
