Ashford Hospitality says chairman Bennet and directorJafarnia resign from board

Blackwells Capital, an owner of 1,000 shares of Ashford Hospitality Trust, announced that directors Monty J. Bennett and Kamal Jafarnia failed to receive the requisite number of votes required for re-election to the Company’s Board of Directors at the Company’s 2024 annual meeting of stockholders and were forced to tender their resignations. The company’s remaining nominees were narrowly re-elected by disturbingly low numbers. Blackwells achieved this result despite the company’s refusal to produce a stockholder list, and with just one mailing to stockholders. In an attempt to ward off Blackwells’ campaign, the Company spun up a familiar playbook employed by Chairman Monty Bennett, which included an aggressive and misleading PR campaign, and the manipulation of Ashford’s corporate machinery to entrench the Board, going as far as changing the meeting quorum requirement in an effort to ensure re-election of the failing incumbent Board members. Jason Aintabi, Chief Investment Officer of Blackwells Capital LLC, said:”The voting results are a conclusive indictment of the Board’s failure to act in the best interests of stockholders. With a resounding majority voting ‘AGAINST’ the election of Monty Bennett and Kamal Jafarnia, and the remaining nominees receiving near majority ‘AGAINST’ votes, stockholders have sent an unequivocal message that they demand directors who will act as independent fiduciaries for stockholders and stand up to Monty Bennett’s tyrannical ‘leadership’ and self-interested personal agenda. The Board’s reappointment of Monty Bennett and Kamal Jafarnia to the Board within hours of being voted out is a shameless maneuver and demonstrates the utter contempt Monty Bennett’s Board has for the Company’s stockholders.