The Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN) share price is down 1.7% to $34.12 amid managing director Chris Ellison addressing shareholders at the annual general meeting (AGM) today.
The ASX 200 mining stock has lost more than 25% of its value since news surfaced of Ellison's failure to declare part of his income while running a private company many years ago.
This led to him paying almost $4 million to the Australian Taxation Office in May 2023. He voluntarily disclosed the undeclared income to the ATO in 2021.
Let's see what Ellison had to say for himself.
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Mineral Resources share price dips amid AGM today
In a prepared speech, Ellison said:
Many years ago, I was a partner in a private company and made an error of judgement with reporting of personal tax.
I deeply regret the impact this has had on our business and our people.
I want to assure all shareholders, that any personal expenses paid for by the Company were always repaid.
Mineral Resources engaged external lawyers in 2022 to investigate other allegations concerning Ellison. Ellison disclosed the tax matter to the board in November 2023.
On 4 November, the miner released an update on its investigation.
It announced that Ellison would step down as CEO but remain managing director for 12 to 18 months until a new one was appointed.
The company said this was "an acceleration of the leadership succession plan in a manner that protects shareholder value and investors' interests".
The company also imposed a financial penalty of $8.8 million on Ellison. And his pay will be docked by up to $9.6 million.
The board said this reflected "the significance of corporate governance and reputational issues to the Company."
What else did Ellison say?
In his AGM speech today, Ellison admitted that "things could have and should have been done differently around corporate governance". He said such measures were now in place.
Ellison said:
I've made some mistakes along the way; I own those mistakes and take full responsibility.
I've built a great Company, delivered extremely good returns to MinRes shareholders, employed thousands of people, created a great working environment for my employees – and provided huge benefits to Australia.
We have a very strong Board that will ensure the ethics and governance processes are very strong going forward. I support the Board and will continue to manage this great business with all my capability and energy through the transition phase.
According to The Australian, Ellison also said: "I can't stress enough how much I hate what I've done (and it's) a dark cloud in my life that I'll live with forever."
The company's investigation into Ellison yielded several conclusions, which can be reviewed here.
Among them was that Ellison had used company resources for his personal benefit on several occasions.
This included directing Mineral Resources employees to work on his boat and properties. He also used the company to procure goods and services for his private use.
Mineral Resources also said financial benefits had been provided to related parties of Ellison. These included rent paid to entities in which he had an interest.
The board said Ellison had disclosed these matters but "failed to appreciate the importance of transparent and timely disclosure of matters that could give rise to a potential or actual conflict of interest".
Mineral Resources share price snapshot
Mineral Resources shares are down 51.5% year to date and 47.9% over the past 12 months.
