ZEEL’s shareholders voted against Punit Goenka's reappointment as director during the annual general meeting on November 28

In a rare instance of retail shareholder activism in India, the small shareholders of Zee Entertainment have defeated the proposal to reappoint Punit Goenka as a director. This, despite the fact that Goenka managed to secure a majority in terms of institutional investor votes, data analysed by Moneycontrol from stock exchange filings showed.

In a conversation with FE last week, Zee's chairman R Gopalan said that Goenka needed to focus his attention on the enhanced targets set by the board. These targets include quarterly consolidated revenue and consolidated Ebitda outlook for the next four quarters (commencing Q3FY25) and a payout of 25% of consolidated net profits as dividend to the shareholders of the company.

The development comes at a time when Goenka, whose family owns approximately 4% of ZEEL and still retains management control.

MUMBAI: Zee CEO Punit Goenka has lost his board seat after he failed to obtain majority shareholder votes to retain his directorship at the media company his father established in 1992. His 19-year tenure as a board member ended when he received 49.

The shares of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (ZEEL) rallied up to 7% during early trading hours on November 29, following a shareholder decision to reject the resolution to reappoint Punit Goenka as a director on the company’s board.

Despite this development, Goenka will remain in his position as chief executive officer (CEO) of Zee Entertainment.

While the appointment of a director is cleared by the shareholders, a CEO is appointed by the board and it is not necessary that only a director can hold this post