Yuki Nitta, Makiko Yamazaki

TOKYO, Reuters – Tuesday’s comments by a Toshiba Corp (OTC) Corp External Director refuted criticisms that two shareholders would skew the board. This comes after boardroom tensions flared at the troubled conglomerate over a list of potential directors.

Jerry Black (external director for Toshiba’s nominee committee of five members) said in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday that he disagreed with the biases on the board.

Black made the comment in reference to Mariko Watahiki (another member of the nomination committee) objecting to two candidates for board directors from shareholders of hedge funds Elliott Management and Farallon Capital Management.

Watahiki (an ex-high court judge) has stated that the slate is lacking diversity, fairness, and balance.

Black stated, “When it is about the directors, I believe that they will be great contributors for the board,”

They were evaluated on the basis of their individual abilities. Each firm has spent thousands or thousands of hours studying Toshiba.

Taro Shimada (CEO) declined to speak on nominees, saying that he “is not in a position” to review the decision of the nominating committee.

He said, however that executing a business plan is not enough to solve the problem.

Toshiba also released a statement on Tuesday in which it reiterated its support of the 13 slate directors candidates.

Satoshi Takawa, Toshiba board chair, stated in a statement that Watahiki’s views are her own and did not impact the support of the company for these candidates.