By: Server and software maker Sun Microsystems Inc. said Monday that Tony Ridder, former chairman of newspaper publisher Knight Ridder Inc., was elected to the company's board of directors.
Ridder, who led the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher until a shareholder rebellion forced its sale to McClatchy Co. earlier this year, will serve on Sun's Leadership Development and Compensation Committee, the company said.
Santa Clara-based Sun also said that Peter Currie, a corporate finance veteran, was elected to the board.
"Tony Ridder and Peter Currie each bring a unique perspective in publishing, internet economics, corporate governance and finance to Sun's corporate board," Jonathan Schwartz, Sun's chief executive officer, said in a statement.
Sun is in the midst of a slow but steady turnaround after its gutting in the dot-com collapse. The company has amassed more than $5 billion in net losses since 2002, but revenues have been climbing and analysts have praised its cost-cutting measures and overall strategy.
Ridder's own cost-cutting efforts at Knight Ridder were not enough to save the company from the wrath of some of its largest shareholders, who confronted the board last year about the company's sliding stock price and eventually forced the sale, which was approved in June.
Knight Ridder traced its roots to 1892, when Ridder's great-grandfather bought a German-language paper in New York. The chain eventually grew to 32 daily newspapers across the country and the papers won a total of 85 Pulitzer Prizes, journalism's highest honor.
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