Former Netscape chief to join FDX board
Reuters 1999-09-02
New York - FDX Corp will nominate James L. Barksdale, former president of Netscape, to its board of directors, an FDX spokeswoman said Wednesday.
FDX, the parent firm of Federal Express, named Barksdale as one of five people nominated as directors at its annual shareholder meeting on September 27 in Paris.
The same day, Federal Express will officially open its Paris-based European 'Superhub' employing 900 staff and 2,000 by 2006.
The other four directors currently serve on the board, and this will boost the board to 14 from 13. The FDX board will meet on September 25 and 26.
The naming of Barksdale, who was also FedEx's chief operating officer from 1983-92, underscores the Memphis-based firm's commitment to electronic commerce, said Shirlee M. Clark, an FDX spokeswoman.
'The business of FDX today is a convergence of the electronic and the physical networks. Jim Barksdale has extensive experience in both areas,' Clark said.
Barksdale, 56, was president and chief executive officer of Netscape from 1995 until America Online Inc acquired that firm in March. During Barksdale's time at Netscape, the company battled Microsoft Corp for dominance of the Internet browser software business.
He now runs a venture capital firm in California that invests in online startup companies. |
