Joe Natale in Toronto in 2017. The former Rogers CEO has been nominated to join Shopify's board of directors.Christopher Katsarov/The Globe and Mail
E-commerce company Shopify Inc. SHOP-T is hoping to add telecom industry veteran Joe Natale to its board of directors.
The company intends to appoint Mr. Natale, the former chief executive officer of Rogers Communications Inc., as lead independent director, subject to shareholder votes. He will replace Robert Ashe, who has served in that role for a decade and is retiring following the company’s annual general meeting in June.
If he is elected, Mr. Natale will also join Shopify’s audit, corporate governance and compensation committees, according to the company’s management information circular, filed Tuesday morning.
Shopify’s lead independent director is responsible for ensuring the board evaluates the performance of management objectively and functions independently from it.
In an e-mail, the company said Mr. Natale brings more than three decades of financial and operational leadership to the table, and has delivered strong results in dynamic, competitive markets.
From 2017 until 2021, he was president and chief executive officer of Rogers RCI-B-T, where he spearheaded the company’s $20-billion acquisition of Shaw Communications Inc., and led major capital investment to expand the company’s fibre and 5G networks. He left the company amid a power struggle in the telecom’s upper ranks.
Prior to his role at Rogers, Mr. Natale served in a series of executive roles and eventually as president and CEO of Telus Corp. T-T at a time when the telecom was expanding its presence across the country.
Mr. Natale currently also serves on the boards of directors of Sun Life Financial Inc. SLF-T and the Creative Destruction Lab. He is a trustee for The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, and a senior adviser for private equity investment firm Atlas Partners.