By Dean Seal

Activist investor Starboard Value has nominated its chief executive and two others to take seats on the board of Autodesk and find ways to boost the software-design maker's share price.

Starboard said in a letter Wednesday that it nominated CEO Jeff Smith for election to the Autodesk board at the next annual shareholder meeting. It has also nominated Geoff Ribar, the former chief financial officer of Cadence Design Systems, and Christie Simons, a senior partner at Deloitte & Touche and board member of Micron Technology.

The investor said earlier this month that it has a more than $500 million stake in Autodesk and that the company has been underperforming financially. Autodesk shares have underperformed as well, Starboard said.

Autodesk responded that it has taken decisive actions to drive growth and that its shareholder returns have outperformed those of its peers.

In its latest letter, Starboard blamed the underperformance on a lack of accountability and criticized Autodesk for dismissing its concerns.

"There are myriad issues with the company's response, the most important of which is that it is simply not true," Starboard said. "Autodesk does not have a record of [total shareholder return] outperformance, and the company has not accomplished its Investor Day margin targets ahead of plan."

The Wall Street Journal reported in the summer that Starboard had taken a stake in Autodesk and would push for margin expansion and changes to the board.

Write to Dean Seal at dean.seal@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 26, 2025 08:55 ET (12:55 GMT)

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