Streit Retained, but Two of Dissident Shareholder’s Nominees Elected to Green Dot Board

Green Dot Corp. shareholders re-elected chairman and chief executive Steven W. Streit to the company’s board of directors Monday after a proxy fight, but they also elected two nominees from dissident shareholder Harvest Capital Strategies LLC, which has called for Streit’s ouster.

Harvest Capital, which says that Streit is not the man to lead Green Dot forward following several years of what it calls subpar financial and operational performance, says the results show there is a mandate for change in the “tone at the top” of Green Dot.

Pasadena, Calif.-based Green Dot announced preliminary voting results at the company’s annual stockholder meeting. A Green Dot press release did not give vote tallies, but said Streit and two of Harvest’s three director nominees, Saturnino Fanlo and George W. Gresham, were elected.

The vote count still must be certified. Green Dot said more details about the annual meeting would be given in a regulatory filing next week.

Earlier Monday, Green Dot revealed that two long-time directors up for re-election with Streit, Timothy R. Greenleaf and Michael J. Moritz, had resigned Sunday, with no explanation given publicly. The resignations prompted speculation that the voting, which took place over the course of several weeks, may have been going against the management-backed candidates.

In the wake of the meeting, Green Dot still said nothing about why Greenleaf and Moritz resigned, but thanked them for their service. And, after numerous sharp exchanges of words during a springtime proxy fight, the company extended an olive branch, at least publicly, to Harvest Capital, a San Francisco hedge fund that owns 9.3% of Green Dot.

“Over the last several months, we have had the opportunity to meet and speak with many of our stockholders,” Green Dot said in a statement. “We thank them for their valuable and constructive input throughout this process. We also look forward to working collaboratively with the new directors to drive long-term shareholder value. We are pleased and excited to welcome them to the board.”

Harvest Capital, meanwhile, in a statement deemed the results “a clear mandate for change in the ‘tone at the top.’” Managing director Jeff Osher said that with Gresham and Fanlo, who he said received more votes than any of the incumbent nominees, as well as the addition of three new directors to Green Dot’s board in April, “we believe an objective assessment of Green Dot’s tone at the top should follow … looking forward, we are confident that the newly reconstituted board will listen to the voice of the company’s unaffiliated shareholders and take the necessary steps to create significant shareholder value.

Exactly what Harvest Capital means by “tone at the top,” and whether the firm will continue trying to fire Streit, could not be immediately determined. A spokesperson did not respond to a Digital Transactions News request for comment Monday afternoon.

Green Dot had promised to appoint Gresham, former chief financial officer of rival prepaid card provider NetSpend Holdings, to its board regardless of the vote. The company also says it will split the roles and chairman and CEO.