Ozy Media chairman Marc Lasry has resigned from the embattled company, under fire for a series of questionable business practices.
“I believe that going forward, Ozy requires experience in areas like crisis management and investigations, where I do not have particular expertise. For that reason, I have stepped down from the company’s board. I remain an investor in the company and I wish it the best going forward,” he said in a statement provided to .
Lasry was named chairman of the Ozy board earlier in September and was one of its lead investors in a Series C round in 2019 totaling $35 million, according to Crunchbase.
COO Samir Rao had previously taken a leave of absence from the company after it was revealed he had impersonated a Google executive on a fundraising call with Goldman Sachs. Rao has been asked by the board to take a leave of absence as an independent investigation into his conduct and the company’s practices is underway.
Over the last week, several investors, partners and employees have distanced themselves from Watson or the company since the exposé. This included Silicon Valley venture capitalist Ron Conway surrendering all his shares. Conway was one Ozy’s first investors.
Former BBC anchor Katty Kay also resigned on Wednesday after four months on the job as Ozy’s executive producer and senior editor, saying the report has been “deeply troubling.”
A representative at A&E also confirmed that the network has pulled its second installment of an Ozy program “Voices Magnified” that was slated to run on Monday.