Education publisher Pearson has tapped Omid Kordestani, former executive chair of Twitter, to lead its board as it shifts its focus to its direct-to-consumer digital service.
Pearson said on Thursday that Kordestani, a 30-year veteran of Silicon Valley who has occupied senior positions at Twitter, Netscape, Klarna and Google, would take up the role after the company’s annual meeting in April 2022.
His appointment comes little over a year into chief executive Andy Bird’s tenure. Bird, a former Disney executive, has overseen booming demand for virtual education during lockdowns, but faced shareholder opposition to his £7.4m pay package.
“I look forward to forming a strong partnership with Andy and his leadership team to help capture the company’s enormous growth potential, and to capitalise on the significant opportunities in digital learning,” Kordestani said in a statement.
He will retain a place on Twitter’s board, where he was executive chair from 2015 to 2020. Previously, he was senior vice-president and chief business officer at Google, where he was one of the company’s first employees.
The Silicon Valley veteran takes over from Sidney Taurel, who announced his retirement in April, following shareholder discontent over Bird’s pay deal.
Virtually all investors supported Bird’s appointment in August 2020, but more than 37 per cent of shareholders opposed his remuneration package at Pearson’s annual meeting this year, although this was not enough to prevent it from passing.
After a string of profit warnings under former chief executive John Fallon, Pearson has pivoted from college sales towards a direct-to-consumer subscription model under Bird. The company recently launched an app-based subscription service, with the CEO likening the shift to that of streaming, as it moves from “ownership to access”.
Bird said that Kordestani had been “a driving force behind the growth of a number of world-changing tech companies” and would “now be bringing that expertise to Pearson, enhancing our strategic direction and growth potential”.
Pearson’s shift to sell direct to consumers follows decades of price inflation for college textbooks. The company has struggled to adapt to the shrinking market for its physical books and with previous efforts at digital innovation.
The company’s new app launched in July and offers students access to all of its 1,500 titles for $14.99 a month. By the third quarter, it had registered 2m users and more than 100,000 paying subscribers, helping it to report a 10 per cent rise in underlying revenue.
Tim Score, Pearson’s senior independent director and chair of British Land, will assume the role of deputy chair.
