- After about four and a half years in the position
- Praise, thanks and good wishes for Farkas
- Brendan Jones taking over
(exechange) — Miami Beach, Florida, May 3, 2023 — Michael Farkas, chief executive of Blink Charging, leaves his position. As announced by Blink Charging Co. in a news release on Wednesday, May 3, 2023, Michael D. Farkas leaves his post as chief executive officer at the manufacturer of electric vehicle (EV) charging equipment, after about four and a half years in the role.
The exact date of Michael Farkas’s departure from his post was not explicitly given in the announcement.
Michael Farkas’s duties as CEO will be taken over by Brendan S. Jones, most recently President at Blink Charging Co.
On its website, Blink Charging already lists Brendan Jones as President & CEO.
“Accelerate our growth”
Blink Charging did not give an explicit reason for Michael Farkas’s planned departure from the CEO post. Jones stated: “As we implement our forward moving strategy, we are well positioned to continue and accelerate our growth and significant role in advancing emobility globally, bringing electrification to more markets and more communities than ever before.”
Precise information regarding Michael Farkas’s future plans was not immediately available.
Share price decline since May 2021
The announcement follows a decline in Blink Charging Co.’s share price of 80% since May 2021.
In the position of CEO since 2018
Michael Farkas became CEO of the Company in 2018.
Michael D. Farkas will continue to serve on the board.
Michael D. Farkas has been a director since 2010, the Company’s Chairman of the Board since January 2015 and Chief Executive Officer from 2010 to July 2015 and again since October 2018.
Farkas is the founder and manager of FGI, a privately-held investment firm.
Farkas is the founder, a director and the Chief Executive Officer of Balance Labs, Inc., a consulting firm that provides business development and consulting services to startup development stage businesses.
Farkas also currently holds the position of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Atlas Group, in which its subsidiary, Atlas Capital Services, was a broker-dealer that had raised capital for a number of public and private clients until it withdrew its FINRA registration in 2007.
Farkas attended Brooklyn College where he studied Finance.
No statement by Michael Farkas
In the news release announcing his departure as CEO of Blink Charging Co., Michael Farkas received praise, thanks and good wishes.
The announcement of his departure as CEO does not include a statement by Michael Farkas.
41% of CEOs are forced out or fired
When CEO departures are announced, exechange determines the Push-out Score on a scale of 0 to 10 to assess how likely it is that the chief executive was pushed out or felt pressure to leave the position, with 0 being most likely a voluntary move and 10 being most likely a forced exit. Anything over a 5 indicates that there are valid reasons to believe an executive may have been pushed out.
Of the 314 CEO departures in the Russell 3000 Index evaluated over the past 12 months (May 3, 2022, to May 2, 2023), the average Push-out Score was 6.2, according to exechange data. References to conduct issues, disagreements and irregularities lead to the highest Push-out Scores. When performance issues, pursuit of other opportunities or time with family were cited as departure reasons, the average Push-out Scores were also significantly elevated.
Around 41% of the CEO departure events from the past 12 months received Push-out Scores of 8 or higher.
In other words, in the past 12 months, two in five departing CEOs were forced out or fired.
Push-out Score for Michael Farkas’s move determined
The Push-out Score regarding Michael Farkas’s move is explained point by point in the exechange report.
exechange reached out to Blink Charging and offered the company the opportunity to comment on the score.
Read the full story in the exechange report 19.2023 ($).