Heartland Financial USA removes chairman after disagreement with leadership

Heartland Financial USA Inc. announced Lynn Fuller was removed as executive operating chairman of the board, effective immediately.

John Schmidt was appointed independent chairman of the board, replacing Fuller. Schmidt has served on the company's board since 2001 and also works as vice chairman and director on the board of Heartland Financial unit Dubuque Bank and Trust Co., according to a March 15 news release.

The board decided Fuller was no longer best-positioned as chairman considering his "public disagreement" with the leadership and strategy of Heartland Financial, Schmidt said in the release.

In a Feb. 15 letter reproduced in a March 8 filing, Fuller expressed "extraordinary disappointment" with Heartland Financial's recent performance and management's "apparent inability to develop, articulate and follow a strategy that is designed to improve total return to stockholders." In response, Vice Chair Thomas Flynn said the company's board "takes its fiduciary responsibilities seriously" and "will engage in appropriate discussion."

Fuller, who had planned to retire when his term ends in May 2024, remains a director of the company.