Martha Rogers posted a series of tweets directed at her brother Edward in the midst of a deeply bitter family feud and upheaval in the boardroom of Rogers Communications Inc., the company founded by her father.
The brothers are locked in an extraordinary battle in which Martha has aligned herself with her mother, Loretta Rogers, and her sister Melinda Rogers-Hixon, while Edward Rogers attempts to remake the company’s board of directors and regain his influence after being fired. as president this week.
As of Friday night, it was unclear who exactly is on the board of directors of Rogers, one of Canada’s largest media and communications firms.
Martha Rogers began a series of tweets shortly after 3 a.m. Saturday morning, saying she was having trouble sleeping because the fate of the company’s 24,000 employees was weighing on her mind.
In a series of five tweets earlier in the morning, he said his brother should “cease, desist and resign,” alluding to his role as chairman of a powerful family trust that controls the voting shares of the company. He also suggested that he had damaging information about him that he would make public.
Martha hinted that Edward has been leaking stories to the media, with the help of communications firm Navigator, and also referenced the now-infamous photo of his brother and family with Donald Trump, which his wife Suzanne Rogers posted online. social in May.
“The truth about their Trump scandal 5 months ago, their involvement threatens us to suppress it or else it will be ‘serious personal repercussions’ (and they can),” reads a tweet in part.
“Unlike Ed, I have no attorneys, PR firms, staff, or media training,” he said in a tweet Saturday afternoon. “I do not need it. I am no one in particular, just a fairly ordinary woman in extraordinary circumstances. Ted put me on the dash as a check and balance to make sure nothing so crazy happens. This is for you dad. “
Martha Rogers did not immediately respond to requests for comment Saturday afternoon. Jonathan Lowenstein, Edward’s representative at Navigator, was also not immediately available.
In addition to the growing family feud, the corporate drama continued throughout the weekend.
After Edward was voted as chairman of the Rogers Communications board on Thursday, he said he would use his role as chairman of the family trust to remove five directors from the Rogers board of directors and replace them with his own selections.
Both Rogers Communications and the attorneys for Loretta, Melinda and Martha said it could not do so without holding a shareholders’ meeting.
At the end of the day Friday, two overlapping groups claimed to be the board of directors of Rogers Communications Inc.
Now, Edward plans to hold a board meeting with his new directors over the weekend. John A. MacDonald, who replaced him as chairman of the Rogers board last week, said the meeting “and anything that may come from it” would be “invalid.”
“Mr. Edward Rogers’s proposal to hold an alleged board meeting with his proposed list of directors this weekend does not comply with the laws of British Columbia, where Rogers Communications Inc. is incorporated, and is therefore invalid “MacDonald said in a statement Saturday afternoon.
“It is disappointing that the former president is attempting to act unilaterally without regard for the interests of the company and all of Rogers’ shareholders,” said MacDonald.
Rogers CEO Joe Natale also released a statement saying he and his leadership team are committed to the company and its $ 20 billion plan to acquire Shaw Communications Inc.
His comment came after the Globe and Mail reported Friday that he and many of the executives were prepared to leave if Edward has his way and reconstitutes the board in their favor.
Edward wants to remove MacDonald, John Clappison, David Peterson, Bonnie Brooks, and Ellis Jacob from the board and replace them with Michael Cooper, Jack Cockwell, Jan Innes, Ivan Fecan, and John Kerr.
He said that those changes took effect as of Friday, when he sent a resolution to that effect. The Rogers board and Melinda Rogers-Hixon’s attorneys dispute it.
(Peterson is also a vice president of Torstar Corp., the company that owns the Toronto Star.)
Reference-www.thestar.com