London, United Kingdom - July 1, 2015, London, United Kingdom - Blinkx plc, an internet media company, announced that from July 1, 2015, Anthony Bettencourt will step down as chairman in order to focus on executive responsibilities.
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Mr. Bettencourt will remain on the Board as a Non-executive Director, serving on the Company's Nomination and Remuneration Committees. He has been Chairman of the blinkx Board of Directors since 2008.
Mr. Bettencourt served as Chief Executive Officer of Autonomy Interwoven and Autonomy ZANTAZ. Prior to that, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Verity. In 2005, he was awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for software and technology in the Silicon Valley.
Mr. Bettencourt serves on the advisory board for Santa Clara University 's Center for Science, Technology and Society, as well as serving as a judge for the Tech Awards and a mentor for Santa Clara University 's Global Social Benefit Incubator program.
Mr. Bettencourt serves on the board of directors of NetBase, Next Page, Alameda County Community Food Bank and is an independent advisor to the board of Autonomy, Inc. He earned a B.A. in English from Santa Clara University in 2006.
Raj Chellaraj, the lead independent Non-executive Director will assume the role of Chairman of the blinkx Board of Directors. In addition to his role as Chairman of the Board, he will serve on the Company's Nomination and Audit Committees.
Mr. Chellaraj currently serves as Associate Dean for Finance and Administration at Stanford Business School. In this role he acts as the CFO, responsible for finance, accounting, human resources, procurement, information services, facilities and operations. Prior to joining Stanford University, he held several senior government positions in the George W. Bush administration.
Most recently Mr. Chellaraj was the Assistant Secretary of State for Administration in the United States Department of State, to which he was nominated by President Bush and confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate. Previously, he was a Senior Executive Officer at the United States Mint in Washington DC.
Mr. Chellaraj also served as Counselor to the Assistant Administrator at the United States Agency for International Development and Program Advisor at the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
In addition to his public sector expertise, Mr. Chellaraj has several years of senior corporate leadership experience, most recently as Vice President, Planning, at Hostess Brands Corporation, part of Ripplewood Holdings, where he was a member of the CEO’s Senior Leadership Team.
Earlier, Mr. Chellaraj served as Director of Corporate Development at Celanese Corporation, a Blackstone Group Company, and held various management, finance, operations and planning roles at Exxon Corporation, Strategic Analysis Inc. and FMC Corporation. ■