Minority YouGov shareholders call for leadership change

In a letter to YouGov’s board of directors, Gatemore, which owns 1.3% of the company, said that “management missteps” had created a “critical and widening gap” between YouGov’s intrinsic value and its share price performance.

The letter said that Gatemore had first raised concerns about YouGov’s performance in the first 18 months of Hatch’s tenure in a private letter dated 20^th September 2024, going public with concerns in November, and had since canvassed opinions from other shareholders and industry participants.

As a result, Gatemore said it was calling for Hatch to resign, with Shakespeare to return as chief executive officer and lead a strategic review of the company and its performance.

Former Meta vice-president Steve Hatch took up his role as YouGov chief executive in August 2023, with co-founder and former CEO Stephan Shakespeare becoming non-executive chair at the company.

Gatemore said in its letter that the concerns it had about the current leadership of YouGov encompassed alleged budgeting issues, “mishandled” investor communications, “volatile” financial guidance and a lack of strategic clarity.

In addition, Gatemore said a strategic review of the company would likely lead to its sale.

The letter said: “Urgent, decisive action is required to address these issues. As such, we strongly advocate for immediate leadership changes, specifically the appointment of an interim CEO who has relevant experience and is aligned with shareholders, to conduct a comprehensive strategic review which we expect will result in a sale process for the company.

“We believe that Stephan Shakespeare is best positioned to drive the necessary changes at the company given his deep understanding of YouGov and the media research industry, his impressive track record during his previous tenure as YouGov’s CEO, and his substantial personal shareholding in the company, which ensures strong alignment with the broader shareholder base.”

YouGov declined to comment.