Disney Adds Two Technology CEOs to Board of Directors
Oracle CEO Safra Catz and Francis deSouza, CEO of biotech firm Illumina, have been elected to board seats starting Feb. 1. The appointments expand the Disney board to 14 members in total. The fact that both Catz and deSouza come from the world of technology is telling about the company’s view of the direction of Disney’s core entertainment business.
“Safra Catz and Francis deSouza are extremely well-respected in their fields, and each brings an innovative and valuable perspective to our business,” said Bob Iger, chairman-CEO of Disney. “Ms. Catz has led Oracle through a period of tremendous growth and innovation since taking the helm in 2014, driving the company’s impressive acquisition strategy and expanding its operations. Mr. deSouza has overseen the development of groundbreaking genomics technology at Illumina that pushes the boundaries of science, significantly impacting the well-being of people around the world.”
Catz has served as CEO of software giant Oracle alongside Mark Hurd since 2014. DeSouza has been president-CEO of Illumina since 2016. The two join Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Blackberry Ltd CEO John Chen as the Disney directors with technology backgrounds.