Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey are stepping down from entertainment giant Disney’s board of directors with the company citing possible conflicts of interest.
Documents published by Disney show Ms Sandberg and Mr Dorsey will not run for re-election to the board at the company’s annual meeting on 8 March in a move which commentators said highlights the increasing competition between the media and the tech industries.
In a statement, Disney said: ”Given our evolving business and the businesses Ms Sandberg and Mr Dorsey are in, it has become increasingly difficult for them to avoid conflicts relating to board matters.”
Ms Sandberg had served on Disney’s board of directors since 2010 and Mr Dorsey since 2013.
In recent years, both Facebook and Twitter have increasingly moved towards broadcasting live entertainment, including live streams of sporting events which is a key component for Disney and its ESPN network.
Facebook has ramped up efforts to host videos on its platform in order to boost a lucrative and growing source of revenue for the company’s advertising business.
In May, Twitter announced video streaming partnerships with 16 media companies, including some Disney competitors. At the time, Twitter said the move would present “new opportunities for brands to reach passionate and engaged audiences by sponsoring premium video content at scale”.
Twitter said it was “just getting started“ with growing its premium video business which it said included sports, news, creators and entertainment.
Alongside a partnership with the National Football League (NFL), Twitter also began live streaming Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) games.
In May, it also announced the launch of a 24 hour news network in collaboration with Bloomberg.
Disney has named two new members to its board from the software and biotech industries.
Safra Catz, co-CEO of software giant Oracle Corporation and Francis Desouza, head of Illumina, will join the board in February.
