Vimeo announced the expected 11 members of its board of directors ahead of the video-hosting platform’s spinoff from IAC — a group that includes noted filmmakers Spike Lee and George C. Wolfe.
The Vimeo spinoff is expected to be completed during the second quarter of 2021, at which time Vimeo is expected to become an independent company listed on Nasdaq.
In addition to Lee and Wolfe, the anticipated members of Vimeo’s post-spin board of directors are: IAC CEO Joey Levin (who would be chairman of Vimeo); Vimeo CEO Anjali Sud; tech investor and software industry veteran Adam Gross; Coinbase CFO Alesia Haas; IAC general counsel Kendall Handler; Appfolio CFO Ida Kane; Mo Koyfman, founder and general partner, Shine Capital; Thrive Capital general partner Nabil Mallick; and IAC CFO Glenn Schiffman.
Lee’s 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks production company has produced more than 35 films since 1983. Most recently he wrote, directed and produced “Da 5 Bloods” for Netflix. Lee won an Oscar for adapted screenplay for “BlackKklansman” in 2019, among several other awards throughout his career.
Wolfe, a playwright, film and theater director, has won five Tony Awards and directed 17 Broadway productions, including “Angels in America” parts one and two, “Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk” and most recently “The Iceman Cometh” with Denzel Washington. For film, he recently directed “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” for Netflix, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” for HBO and “Lackawanna Blues,” for which he was named best director by the National Board of Review and the Director’s Guild of America.
“Vimeo has been part of IAC for 14 years, growing into a strong industry leader ready to stand on its own,” Levin said in a statement. “Hard to believe that what started as a small team inside College Humor is now positioned to become a big public company with a world-class board of directors.”
Vimeo’s proposed spinoff remains subject to a number of conditions including final approval by IAC’s board of directors, approval of the separation proposal by IAC stockholders, and receipt of a favorable tax opinion.
In January,Vimeo said it raised $300 million in new equity funding, giving it a valuation north of $5 billion, double what it was three months earlier. Vimeo provides a suite of video tools for businesses and independent creators. It has more than 200 million users, of which about 1.5 million are paying subscribers.
