GUV’S WIFE AMONG 4 NEW DIRECTORS ON CHIPOTLE BOARD

Denver-based Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., facing criticism that it was slow to respond to an E. coli outbreak last year, named four new directors to its board in a long-anticipated shake-up supported by activist investor Bill Ackman.

The new members — Paul Cappuccio, Robin Hickenlooper, Ali Namvar and Matthew Paull — joined the board on Wednesday. The move brings the current number of directors to 12, the burrito chain said in a statement on Friday.

Hickenlooper, senior vice president of corporate development at Liberty Global and Liberty Media, is married to Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper.

Before joining Liberty, she worked in strategic planning and business development at Del Monte Foods and in investment banking at Thomas Weisel Partners.

The overhaul addresses concerns that Chipotle’s board was too insular and lacked diversity.

The revamped board “gives us the oversight, accountability and leadership we need,” CEO Steve Ells said in the statement.

Namvar is an executive at Ackman’s firm, Pershing Square Capital Management, Chipotle’s largest investor. He joined Pershing Square in 2006 and helped oversee its investments in McDonald’s, Wendy’s International and other food companies.

Paull, who previously served on Chipotle’s board when the company was owned by McDonald’s, is also on the advisory board at Pershing Square.

Cappuccio, a former U.S. Supreme Court clerk and associate deputy attorney general at the Department of Justice, rounds out the new additions. He has been general counsel at Time Warner Inc. since 2001.