4 of 11 Tesla board members to step down by 2020

San Francisco, April 20 (IANS) In a move that is likely to weaken the powers of Electric Vehicle (EV) maker Tesla Founder Elon Musk and cut some of his strongest allies from the board of directors, the company has said that four of its 11-member board would step down by 2020, thus shrinking the board's size by more than a third.

The EV maker reportedly said two directors plan to leave its board in June and two more intend to step down next year as part of a move to improve corporate governance of the electric car company.

"Brad Buss, a member of the board since 2009, and Linda Johnson Rice, who joined two years ago, have asked not to be re-elected when shareholders convene on June 11 for Tesla's annual general meeting, the company said in a preliminary proxy statement," The New York Times reported late on Friday.

The departing members of the board include Antonio Gracias and Stephen Jurvetson -- close friends of Musk who are also directors in SpaceX, Musk's space launch company.

A member of the board since 2009, Buss was also the Chief Financial Officer of solar panel installer SolarCity for two years until Tesla acquired the firm in 2016.

"Shrinking the board will 'allow it to operate more nimbly and efficiently'," the company was quoted as saying in The NYT report.

In November 2018, Musk was replaced by Robyn Denholm as the chairperson of the company's board.

Musk had agreed to step down as the Chairman of Tesla for three years and pay a $20 million fine in a deal with the stock market regulatory authority, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), to resolve securities fraud charges.