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Bird Announces Executive Leadership Changes to Reinforce Focus on Path to Profitability
Rhea-AI Impact
(Low)
Rhea-AI Sentiment
(Neutral)
Tags
management
Rhea-AI Summary
Bird Global, Inc. (NYSE:BRDS) announced key leadership appointments to support its profitability drive. Shane Torchiana has been appointed as CEO, succeeding Travis VanderZanden, who remains Chairman. Ben Lu has been named CFO, replacing Yibo Ling, while Lance Bradley moves up to CTO. VanderZanden reaffirmed the commitment to achieving positive adjusted EBITDA by Q3 2022. The leadership change aims to bolster stakeholder value as the company continues its focus on cost optimization and sustainable urban transportation.
Positive
Appointment of Shane Torchiana as CEO expected to enhance leadership and operational strategy.
New CFO Ben Lu brings extensive financial experience, potentially improving financial management.
Leadership changes may strengthen focus on profitability and stakeholder value.
Negative
Concerns about continuity and experience gaps after multiple executive changes.
Shane Torchiana Appointed Chief Executive Officer
Ben Lu Appointed Chief Financial Officer
Lance Bradley Appointed Chief Technology Officer
Travis VanderZanden Remains Chairman
MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Bird Global, Inc. ("Bird" or the "Company") (NYSE:BRDS), a leader in environmentally friendly electric transportation, today announced that its Board of Directors (“Board”) has made several key leadership appointments, effective immediately, to continue the Company’s drive towards profitability. The Board has named Shane Torchiana, currently President, as President and Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Travis VanderZanden, who will remain Chairman of the Board. The Board has also appointed Ben Lu as Chief Financial Officer, succeeding Yibo Ling. Additionally, Lance Bradley, currently Senior Vice President, Engineering, has been promoted to Chief Technology Officer.
Travis VanderZanden, Founder and Chairman of the Board, said, “The organizational changes announced today reaffirm our commitment to positioning Bird for long-term profitable growth and we continue to expect positive adjusted EBITDA in the third quarter of 2022. We believe this long-planned transition strengthens a world-class executive team with a record of delivering results, public company expertise, and a focus on driving key stakeholder value. Under new leadership, the company will continue to prioritize cost optimization, without losing sight of our long-term commitment to making cities more livable and sustainable.”
Mr. VanderZanden, continued, “I want to thank Yibo for his contributions to Bird over many years of the Company’s growth, our transition to a public company, and our path to profitability initiative. We wish him the best in his next endeavor.”
Shane Torchiana has held various roles at the company, most recently as President, during which he was responsible for overseeing the internal operation of Bird’s business, including city growth, policy, Fleet Manager relations, and city operations. Additionally, he oversaw non-technology support functions of the company including People and Legal. Previously, as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development & Strategy at Bird, Mr. Torchiana led fundraising and M&A initiatives, and was a key member of the team which brought Bird public in late-2021. Prior to joining Bird in 2018, Mr. Torchiana spent eight years at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) where he led client engagements in strategy, data & analytics, and transformation.
Shane Torchiana, President and CEO, added, “I am grateful and humbled by the trust Travis and the Board have placed in me to lead this exceptional company that is driving the transition to clean, equitable transportation for the hundreds of cities and millions of riders we serve. I look forward to working closely with Travis, as Chairman, Ben, as CFO, and the rest of the executive team to continue our focus on profitability.”
Ben Lu brings over 25 years of diverse and extensive experience in the technology sector, and was most recently the Chief Financial Officer of Archer Aviation where he strengthened the finance and investor relation functions during its transition to a public company. Prior to Archer, Mr. Lu was the Vice President of Finance at Logitech International, where he successfully led a global team responsible for corporate FP&A, investor relations, treasury, global operations and supply chain finance, and more. During his time at Logitech, Mr. Lu and the finance team helped scale revenues from $2 billion in fiscal year 2017 to over $5 billion in fiscal 2021, while increasing operating profits from $250 million to nearly $1.3 billion over the same time period.
The Company has also promoted Lance Bradley, currently Senior Vice President, Engineering, to Chief Technology Officer. As Chief Technology Officer, Mr. Bradley will oversee all technology, engineering and product functions, including software, firmware, hardware, and vehicle operations, as well as data, security, and information technology. Mr. Bradley has been a key member of the Company’s Engineering team since 2018, serving in various capacities of increasing responsibility. Prior to joining Bird, Mr. Bradley was a senior software engineer at Riot Games, Inc. where he led the data strategy for League of Legends. He previously held technical positions at Scopely, Inc., Geni.com, and Zynga Inc.
In connection with the executive leadership changes announced, Justin Kan has resigned from the Board, effective immediately. The Company expects to seek stockholder approval for the election of Mr. Torchiana to the Board, on or before the next Annual Meeting of Stockholders.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 (as amended, the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (as amended, the “Exchange Act”). All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company’s path to profitability, anticipated results for the third quarter of 2022, new leadership team, as well as the election of Mr. Torchiana to the Board. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the following: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business, financial condition, and results of operations; our ability to cure our New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) price deficiency and meet the continued listing requirements of the NYSE; risks related to our relatively short operating history and our new and evolving business model, which makes it difficult to evaluate our future prospects, forecast financial results, and assess the risks and challenges we may face; our ability to achieve or maintain profitability in the future; our ability to retain existing riders or add new riders; our Fleet Managers’ ability to maintain vehicle quality or service levels; our ability to evaluate our business and prospects in the new and rapidly changing industry in which we operate; risks related to the impact of poor weather and seasonality on our business; our ability to obtain vehicles that meet our quality specifications in sufficient quantities on commercially reasonable terms; our ability to compete successfully in the highly competitive industries in which we operate; risks related to our substantial indebtedness; our ability to secure additional financing; risks related to the effective operation of mobile operating systems, networks and standards that we do not control; risks related to action by governmental authorities to restrict access to our products and services in their localities; risks related to claims, lawsuits, arbitration proceedings, government investigations and other proceedings to which we are regularly subject; risks related to compliance, market and other risks, including the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, in relation to any expansion by us into international markets; risks related to the impact of impairment of our long-lived assets and the other important factors discussed in Part I, Item 1A. “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and Part II, Item 1A. “Risk Factors” in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2022, and described from time to time in our future reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon information available to us as of the date of this press release, and while we believe such information forms a reasonable basis for such statements, these statements are inherently uncertain and investors are cautioned not to unduly rely upon these statements. Except as required by applicable law, we do not plan to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, whether as a result of any new information, future events or otherwise.
About Bird
Bird is an electric vehicle company dedicated to bringing affordable, environmentally friendly transportation solutions such as e-scooters and e-bikes to communities across the world. Founded in 2017 by transportation pioneer Travis VanderZanden, Bird is rapidly expanding. Today, it provides fleets of shared micro electric vehicles to riders in more than 450 cities globally and makes its products available for purchase at www.bird.co and via leading retailers and distribution partners. Bird partners closely with the cities in which it operates to provide a reliable and affordable transportation option for people who live and work there.
