Xero Limited announced that Graham Smith will retire from the Xero Board at the end of Xero's current financial year ending 31 March 2020, and will step down as Chair of the Board on 31 January 2020. Graham has notified the Board of his intention to retire from the Board earlier than anticipated due to the health of close family members and the resulting impact of this on his capacity to travel to New Zealand for board meetings. In line with the Board's succession planning, current Xero independent non-executive director David Thodey has been appointed to succeed Graham as Chair of the Board effective 1 February 2020. Having joined Xero's Board as an independent director in February 2015, Graham was appointed Chair of the Board in January 2017. David joined Xero's Board in June 2019. Based in Australia, David was previously CEO of Telstra, an Australian telecommunications and technology company, and prior to that was CEO of IBM Australia and New Zealand. David currently holds non-executive director positions at Vodafone Group, a UK-listed telecommunications and technology service provider, Ramsay Health Care, and is chair of Tyro. He is also chair of Australia's national scientific research agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). In 2017, David was made an Officer (AO) in the General Division of the Order of Australia.