Foley steps down as Black Knight's chairman, CEO Jabbour adds title

William Foley, the chairman of Black Knight since the mortgage technology company's spin-out from Fidelity National Financial in 2015, will retire from its board following the company's annual meeting on Wednesday.

Current CEO Anthony Jabbour will add the chairman's position at that time with Foley becoming chairman emeritus.

"Foley decided not to stand for re-election at the annual meeting in order to reduce the overall number of public company boards on which he serves," a Securities and Exchange Commission filing stated.

Agnes Lopez

Foley is also currently the chairman of FNF and a number of other publicly traded companies, including Cannae Holdings. CoreLogic used Foley's ties to FNF and Black Knight as a weapon to fend off a hostile takeover attempt from Cannae and Senator Investments. CoreLogic ended up being acquired by Stone Point Capital and Insight Partners for $80 per share.

Foley is also the executive chairman and CEO of the Vegas Golden Knights parent company.

Black Knight became totally free of any ownership interest by FNF in 2017.

Jabbour took over as president of Black Knight in April 2018, following 14 years as the chief operating officer for banking and payments at another Foley-related company, Fidelity National Information Services. He concurrently serves as the CEO of Dun & Bradstreet, a company that Black Knight has an indirect investment in. Foley at one point also served as FIS' chairman but has not had a role there since 2012.

"He has injected an industry leader with the entrepreneurial and innovative spirit of a start-up and the results have been extraordinary," Foley said of Jabbour in a press release. "His strong visionary and leadership skills make me certain that this is the right time to pass on the reins of leadership and give me great confidence in Black Knight's future."

Under Jabbour, Black Knight has made six acquisitions since 2020, most recently Top of Mind Networks.