Rubicon Project Names Three New Board Members

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Rubicon Project Inc., the newly public ad tech company in Playa Vista, has named three new directors, expanding its board to seven.

The additions of Robert Frankenberg, former chief executive of Novell; Robert Spillane, former chief executive of investment group DM Holdings; and Lisa Troe, former regional chief enforcement accountant at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Los Angeles regional office, were announced by Rubicon Project Chairman and Chief Executive Frank Addante.

The news comes as Rubicon, which went public April 2 at $17.50 a share, has seen its stock slump from a closing high of $22.24 on April 23 to close at $14.73 today– a 16 percent drop off from its initial public offering price and 34 percent off its high water mark.

Though three analysts initiated coverage of the company with either “market perform” or “Buy” ratings, CNBC host Jim Cramer reported on his “Mad Money” show on April 28 that investors are scared of putting money into Rubicon because, “There are two competitors waiting in the wings that will come public within the next month or two that are in the exact same space Rubicon’s in, tools for Internet advertising.”

Though he did not say who the competitors were, there have been mumblings for months that Pasadena ad tech firm OpenX could be readying a public offering, though it has yet to file papers with the S.E.C.

Despite its wide reach, Rubicon has had trouble reaching profitability according to its S-1 form. The company reported a net loss of $9.2 million in 2013 on revenue of $84 million, a 47 percent increase over the year earlier.