Engine Capital Withdraws Board Slate Following $750M Buyback Commitment by Lyft (LYFT)

Market Cap: $4.6 billion | Lyft, Inc. operates a peer-to-peer marketplace for on-demand ridesharing in the United States and Canada.

On April 16, 2025, Engine Capital, owning ~1%,  nominated Alan L. Bazaar and Daniel B. Silvers for election to the board, citing years of value destruction, weak governance, and underperformance versus Uber. Engine criticized the board’s founder control, shareholder dilution, and poor capital allocation, and said private engagement failed as the board refused to consider its nominees. It is now pursuing a proxy contest to drive shareholder-led change. Source

On April 29, 2025, Engine Capital, owning ~1% of Lyft, released a presentation urging boardroom changes due to poor governance and capital allocation, including a dual-class structure, staggered board, excessive dilution, and an underutilized $831M cash position. It recommends a $750M share buyback, elimination of the dual-class setup, and de-staggering the board. Engine nominated Alan L. Bazaar and Daniel B. Silvers to replace Sean Aggarwal and Betsey Stevenson, citing the nominees’ strong board experience and value creation track records.

On May 8, 2025, following the Company's public announcement of increasing its share repurchase authorization to $750 million, committing to utilize $500 million within the next 12 months (including $200 million over the next three months), and intending to enter into one or more Rule 10b5-1 trading plans, Engine withdrew its slate of nominees for election to the Board and will not vote any proxies received from stockholders. Source