Imagine you’re the director of a company faced with a shareholder revolt. They’re demanding the head of your CEO—a CEO who had previously turned around your company, but who recently has been picking fights. You worry that his abusive nature is endangering the corporate future, but are indebted to him for the past. What do […]
Stephen Davis and Jon Lukomnik
Posted inFrom the Archive
“Who Are These Guys?” Welcome To The Hedge Fund Era
Highfields Capital Management makes an unsolicited $3 billion offer for Circuit City. TCI Fund Management sparks a shareholder revolt that scuttles the Deutsche Börse’s bid for the London Stock Exchange. Lawndale Capital Management intervenes with the SEC to suggest that Sparton Corp. may have improperly held open the polls until the contract electronics manufacturer got […]
Posted inBoards & Shareholders
Looking For A Goldilocks Accountability Standard
Sometimes we can’t help but feel like Goldilocks, particularly when it comes to the contentious issue of holding directors accountable for corporate misbehavior. We’ve tasted porridge too cold, and porridge too hot. So far, we’re still looking for the porridge that’s just right. Consider the recently announced Enron and WorldCom settlements. In the Enron situation, […]
Posted inBoards & Shareholders
Institutional Investors’ Perspective: Priorities For ’05
Remember the old days when corporate executives stood astride the known world, masters of markets? Today, with fetters such as Sarbanes-Oxley, residents of the C-suite feel they are doing something closer to dancing atop a basketball. To help keep your balance, here’s an early warning signal of the top 10 issues coming your way in […]
Posted inBoards & Shareholders
The Illusion Of Proxy Access Is Classic SEC Misdirection
Houdini could teach the SEC a thing or two. Yes, the great magician is dead; but, then again, so is the SEC’s draft proposal on proxy access. Or, at least it soon will be, given its convoluted triggers, heavy lobbying against it by the business roundtable, a threatened lawsuit should the SEC go ahead, and—most […]
