Shareholder Activism

Bill Ackman hitches ride on meme-stock bandwagon

4 Jun 2024

The hedge fund boss has attracted 1.2 mln X followers to his political and investment agendas. He’s leveraging the social media clout by selling a $1.1 bln stake in his Pershing Square firm. A richer valuation multiple than Man Group or Blackstone emits an essence of GameStop.

Breakup alarm rings at $50 bln building superstore

29 May 2024

Johnson Controls, which installs heating and cooling systems, promised growth from cross-selling fire and security services when it bought Tyco in 2016. The deal hasn’t delivered and neither has boss George Oliver. Pushy investor Elliott may help unclog its valuation filter.

Toyota investors can give chair a year for tune-up

29 May 2024

Proxy advisers Glass Lewis and ISS want shareholders not to re-elect Akio Toyoda atop the $300 bln automaker’s board. There’s logic to it. But the former CEO has pledged to address governance problems at subsidiaries. If he doesn’t, it makes a stronger case for booting him out.

Japanese funds will unlock powerful virtuous cycle

28 May 2024

Pushy foreigners helped boost short-term value in the Nikkei stock index. In this Exchange podcast, Hiroyuki Otsuka, CEO of Newton Investment and ex-Carlyle executive, explains how local asset managers will create the next wave of gains and usher in dramatic change for Japan.

Japan’s value push will turn into a shove

16 May 2024

Shareholder meetings next month will help gauge progress in the official campaign to boost corporate performance. Toyota, SoftBank and Fast Retailing have not signed up. Given the importance of ensuring resilience in the $4.2 trln economy, Tokyo is likely to apply more pressure.

Sparring shareholders cause governance train wreck

13 May 2024

Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw narrowly won re-election, but the chair didn’t, and three of seven dissident nominees got board seats. The outcome augurs ongoing clashes at the $50 bln US railway operator. It’s a pitfall of the split tickets enabled by universal proxy cards.

Sumitomo offers a glimpse of activism future

8 May 2024

The shares of the powerful $34 bln trading house surged on Warren Buffett's support. US investor Elliott is using the momentum to squeeze more value out of the company. The next big targets for pushy investors in Japan are marginal, not blatant, underperformers.

Vote no to bashing proxy advisers

25 Apr 2024

Corporate leaders at JPMorgan and AstraZeneca bridle when ISS and Glass Lewis criticize their governance. No wonder: Some high-stakes shareholder votes this year will be uncomfortable for feather-bedded bosses. Proxy firms are problematic, but they do more good than harm.

Shell’s value gap is more strategy than geography

19 Apr 2024

CEO Wael Sawan may shift the $230 bln UK oil giant’s listing to New York if a discount to rivals like Exxon Mobil persists beyond 2025. But Shell’s shifting priorities, slower growth, and unreliable dividends weigh on its valuation. Those factors defy a superficial fix.

Salesforce’s activist makeover faces trial by M&A

16 Apr 2024

A swarm of pushy investors last year pushed the software firm into cutting costs, returning capital, and de-emphasizing dealmaking. Now it’s mulling a takeover of $11 bln Informatica, the WSJ says. The price will signal whether founder and CEO Marc Benioff has changed his ways.

Bob Iger now under pressure to wow with an encore

3 Apr 2024

Disney’s CEO worked some magic to stop mouthy Nelson Peltz from being elected to the board. The next trick is to fix streaming and narrow a valuation gap with Netflix. Even if Iger pulls another contract extension out of his hat, shareholders want to see a financial showstopper.

AI hype will be hard to puncture

20 Mar 2024

Short-seller Hindenburg is attacking $80 bln Equinix, whose data-center investments have been pumped up by artificial-intelligence exuberance. US regulators are also starting to target some of the hot air. Even so, the valuation bubble is more likely to deflate slowly than pop.

Disney’s CEO still has time to be a hero

20 Mar 2024

Shareholders will soon vote on the $200 bln entertainment firm’s board line-up, the culmination of a bitter battle between long-serving chief Bob Iger and activist Nelson Peltz. Iger is likely to prevail. He should invite Peltz to join the Mouse House as a director anyway.

Disney CEO Bob Iger has a lingering legacy problem

15 Mar 2024

The $205 bln company is trolling to replace its longstanding boss. Perhaps its someone in-house or an outsider brought in by a deal. But Tinseltown is skeptical he’ll leave. Iger may bat down activists in an upcoming vote. The best way to ink his legacy is by nudging the board.

Swarming investor gnats circle too widely

6 Mar 2024

New US rules have started helping smaller fund managers make a mark. They’re increasingly needling boards and stinging CEOs. When they flit around bigger targets such as Disney and Crown Castle, however, they’re easily swatted away and become a nuisance for larger activists.

Nelson Peltz becomes gadfly to Disney’s flywheel

5 Mar 2024

A 130-plus page presentation makes a strong case for how and why the $210 bln company's boss Bob Iger didn't do his job. Activist Nelson Peltz’s ideas for fixing Disney are weaker. Still, CEOs run companies; board members keep tabs. In a smaller world, Peltz might win a seat.

Warner Bros Discovery makes case against media M&A

23 Feb 2024

The HBO owner’s first full year since the merger of Warner and Discovery was a grim one. Boss David Zaslav lived up to cost-cut goals but missed nearly everywhere else. Even well-run deals can’t stem industry woes, making future tie-ups - with, say, Paramount - look ill-advised.

JetBlue’s turbulence gives Carl Icahn an easy ride

13 Feb 2024

The corporate rabble-rouser took a stake in the airline as it struggles with a defunct deal and business turmoil. That resembles Illumina, where Icahn won a 2023 campaign. Quick-fix activism can’t mend a panoply of issues. But striking at a weak moment can help activists anyway.

Japan is the new Disneyland of global activism

7 Feb 2024

Elliott wants $24 bln property giant Mitsui Fudosan to offload its stake in the Tokyo theme park operator and buy back shares. Like many of his peers, Mitsui's CEO is a convert to shareholder religion. The new challenge for activists is getting company bosses to be more devout.

Disney board bake-off will burn Nelson Peltz

5 Feb 2024

The entertainment colossus is battling against the corporate cage rattler’s director nominees. His previous fight with P&G shows how he can win with a small stake and disparate shareholder base. But this latest contest includes other adversaries, making success less likely.