TheStreet nominates board members, dismisses shareholder nominees

Financial news company TheStreet.com has nominated two board members, including interim chief executive officer Larry Kramer, to its board, dismissing two nominees from one of its shareholders.

Kramer, former publisher of USA Today and founder of CBS Marketwatch, was named interim CEO earlier this year after the resignation of Elisabeth DeMarse. TheStreet also nominated Keith B. Hall, who joined the board in November 2012, to stand for re-election.

FiveT Capital and Spear Point Capital, two activist hedge funds that own nearly 10 percent of the company’s stock, had pushed for Lex Fenwick, a former top executive at Dow Jones and Bloomberg, to get a seat on the board along with FiveT head Johannes M. Roth.

In a filing Friday with Securities and Exchange Commission, TheStreet stated, “On April 15, 2016, the Company notified the Stockholders that, although it had carefully considered their nominees, the Board determined that Keith Hall and Larry Kramer remained the best choices to serve on the Company’s Board. The Company expects to continue to have an active engagement and dialogue with the Stockholders and other stockholders.”

TheStreet also said in the filing that it intends to to maintain the separation of the positions of the chairman and chief executive officer going forward and eliminate the lead independent director position.

Its board continues to evaluate several highly qualified chief executive officer candidates and expects that Kramer will remain chairman of the board following the appointment of a new chief executive who is also expected to join the board.

TheStreet closed at $1.16 on Friday, down 4 cents, or 3.3 percent.