Outgoing chairman lobs parting shot

Rolled directors David Bartholomew and Sibylle Krieger were collateral damage as Entrust waged a personal vendetta against him, outgoing Vector chairman Michael Stiassny told shareholders at the company’s annual meeting yesterday.

Saying he felt freer to speak his mind given it was his final meeting as chairman, Stiassny took pot shots at boardroom rivals aligned to Entrust, critics of Vector’s relationship with Israeli defence company mPrest and the Commerce Commission.

Bartholomew and Krieger resigned from the board on Friday under pressure from Entrust, the consumer trust that owns 75 per cent of Vector.

At the AGM, two Entrust-aligned candidates were elected to the board, each by a wide margin: Entrust trustee and former Hirepool chief executive Michael Buczkowski (a new director) and Dame Alison Patterson (who was re-elected).

Stiassny said Bartholomew and Krieger were appointed to the board in February “following an exhaustive recruitment process in which all directors took part and in which Vector’s main shareholder [Entrust] participated.