Markel’s veteran board chairman to retire in May 2020
Alan Kirshner, the executive chairman and chairman of the board at Markel Corporation for 33 years, will retire as a director and officer of the company in 2020, the year of his 85th birthday and his 60th year at Markel.
Kirshner will not stand for re-election at the company’s 2020 annual meeting of shareholders, scheduled to be held May 11, 2020.
Steven Markel, a current board member and vice chairman, will replace him as chairman of the board. Markel has been with the company since 1975 and in a senior leadership role since 1986, with a focus on finance and investments. He has served as vice chairman since 1992 and has been a director since 1978.
Kirshner joined Markel’s board in 1978 and became its chairman and company CEO in 1986, the same year it became a public company. He served as CEO through 2015 and moved into his executive chairman role in 2016. In that time Markel grew from approximately $60 million in total assets to approximately $25 billion.
Kirshner will assume the honorary position of chairman emeritus of the board when he retires.
Markel said: “[Kirshner] has always been a visionary, challenging leadership and the organisation to embrace change, to innovate, create and strive for a better way. And, as the lead author of The Markel Style, the company’s values statement, his purpose and principles will live on within Markel forever.”
Meanwhile, Harold Morrison is joining the board of drectors on January 1. Morrison retired from Chubb Insurance Company in December 2017 after a 33-year career in the insurance industry.
