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☆ Op-ed: How activist investors are deactivating with proxy battle losses
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Jeffrey Sonnenfeld | Steven Tian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Whether today's activist investors contribute any genuine economic value is open for debate. As this year's proxy season draws to a close, defeat after defeat for activist investors in proxy fights this year – most prominently at Disney and Norfolk Southern – raises the question: Are activist investors increasingly getting de-activated, losing their credibility and power? These self-styled "activist investors" are distinct from the original activists who helped catalyze needed governance reforms two decades back. Many of today's activist investors are a far cry from the original, heroic crusaders for shareholder value who pioneered the activism space decades ago. However, given the failing financial performance of many of today's activist investors, their losing streak in proxy fights and increasing public rejection of their bullying tactics, the credibility and value of activist investors writ large is increasingly imperiled.

Persons: Nelson Peltz's, Ed Garden, Ralph Whitworth, John Biggs of TIAA, John Bogle of, Ira Millstein, Weil, Nell Minow, Bob Monks, Harvard's Stephen Davis, Carl Icahn's, Aubrey McClendon, –, Bill Cohan, Jamie Dimon, Glass Lewis, resoundingly, Mason Morfit's ValueAct, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Lester, Steven Tian Organizations: CNBC, Salesforce, Dow Jones, Disney, Norfolk Southern, Relational Investors, John Bogle of Vanguard, Services, Chesapeake, Norfolk, JetBlue, Elanco, of Institutional Investors, United Shareholders Association, Responsibility Research, ISS, Lester Crown, Management, Yale University, Yale's, Institute Locations: Norfolk Southern, greenmailers, America

☆ It’s ‘pathological’ for brands to advertise on Elon Musk’s X, Yale professor says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Brands are being “irresponsible” by continuing to advertise on Elon Musk’s X after the billionaire endorsed antisemitic views, according to Yale professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld. It’s pathological,” Sonnenfeld, dean for leadership studies at the Yale School of Management, told CNN in a phone interview. Yaccarino under pressureThe advertiser backlash is piling even more financial pressure on X at a time when the social media platform has been struggling. “This is a perfect opportunity for the market to do what the market does best,” Minow said. Tim Calkins, a marketing professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, said brands don’t need to “completely agree” with a media property and its policies to advertise there.

Persons: Elon Musk’s, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, “, Sonnenfeld, Musk, ” Musk, ”, Joe Benarroch, “ Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Linda Yaccarino, “ Linda Yaccarino, ” Sonnenfeld, he’s, Yaccarino, Lou Paskalis, Nell Minow, ” Minow, Minow, Tim Calkins, Calkins, it’s, ” Calkins Organizations: CNN, Brands, Elon, Yale School of Management, Whites, Disney, Warner Bros . Discovery, Media, Twitter, Media Matters, Marketing, ValueEdge Advisors, Time Magazine, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management

☆ Former FCC Chair Newton Minow, who called 1960s TV 'vast wasteland', dies at 97
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Bill Trott | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

On May 9, 1961, he addressed the National Association of Broadcasters convention and had some stark criticism for television executives. "When television is good, nothing - not the theater, not the magazines or newspapers - nothing is better," Minow said. "I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland," he said. The speech draft had referred to a "vast wasteland of junk" but Minow excised "of junk" so as not to offend his audience too deeply. Minow headed the FCC for two years and in 1965 became a partner at the Chicago law firm of Sidley Austin.

☆ Newton N. Minow, F.C.C. Chief Who Deemed TV a ‘Vast Wasteland,’ Dies at 97
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Robert D. Mcfadden | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Newton N. Minow, who as President John F. Kennedy’s new F.C.C. chairman in 1961 sent shock waves through an industry and touched a nerve in a nation addicted to banality and mayhem by calling American television “a vast wasteland,” died on Saturday at his home in Chicago . His daughter Nell Minow said the cause was a heart attack. “Stay there without a book, magazine, newspaper, profit-and-loss sheet or rating book to distract you, and keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off,” Mr. Minow said. And endlessly, commercials — many screaming, cajoling and offending.

☆ Where Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon takes the corporate jet
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Dakin Campbell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

"The Board fully supports the use of the Goldman Sachs planes for travel, just as it supported the use of private aircraft by previous Goldman Sachs executives," said Tony Fratto, a company spokesman. "Executives at Goldman Sachs have been flying on private aircrafts for decades as it is proven to be the most secure, effective, and cost-efficient solution to meet the extensive travel obligations for CEOs of firms like Goldman Sachs — which is why all of our peer institutions also extensively use private aircraft." John Waldron, president of Goldman Sachs Reuters/Brendan McDermidOccasionally, Solomon and Waldron switch planes, particularly when Waldron flies overseas. Goldman Sachs has a sponsorship deal with pro golfer Patrick Cantlay. "These estimates wildly overstate the cost of such flights to Goldman Sachs and are not an accurate representation," he said.

☆ Fox executives should be fired for ‘proven misconduct’ exposed in Dominion lawsuit, renowned Yale professor says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —The Fox Corporation board has a huge mess on its hands — and it needs to work quickly to clean it up. That’s according to Jeffrey A Sonnenfeld, the renowned professor and senior associate dean for leadership studies at the Yale School of Management. The former House speaker said that Fox News should “move on from Donald Trump” and “stop spouting election lies.”But Sonnenfeld said Ryan’s actions were not enough. In fact, he said Ryan’s “quiet dissent” was “cowardly, ineffective, and immoral,” and pointed out that board members have certain responsibilities under corporate governance law in Delaware, where Fox is incorporated. Fox News has previously said it was “proud” of its 2020 election coverage, which is a statement that only grows more remarkable by the day.

☆ Some Goldman Sachs partners want to tell the board about their concerns over CEO David Solomon
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Dakin Campbell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

A decline in morale at the Wall Street firm concerns some Goldman partners. Here are their concerns about CEO David Solomon, who addressed the partners in Miami. CEO David Solomon addressed Goldman Sachs' partners today at the firm's annual partners meeting in Miami. There's little history for Goldman partners taking their concerns directly to the board. Since then, according to someone who has spoken to investors, more shareholders have questioned how long Solomon can last as Goldman's CEO.

☆ CEOs take pay cuts after brutal 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The pay cuts are hitting some of America’s best-known and highest-paid bosses, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon. The bank then disclosed on Friday that Solomon’s 2022 pay is being cut by nearly 30%. Goldman Sachs’ profit dropped 49% last year as the slowdown in dealmaking curbed advisory fees. Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman (left), Apple boss Tim Cook (middle) and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon (right) are among the leaders whose pay has been clipped in recent weeks. Tech bosses have received the biggest pay hikes, with the median CEO pay surging by 42.1% in 2021 to $19.1 million, Equilar said.

☆ Tyson Foods CFO Arrest Adds to Governance Challenges for Board
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Jennifer Williams-Alvarez | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Photo: Michael Conroy/Associated PressThe Tyson family had nearly 71% of the total voting rights in the meat giant as of December 2021, according to a securities filing. It didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Mr. Tyson would make his debut to analysts and investors by taking part in the earnings call. As CFO, Mr. Tyson has an annual base salary of $650,000, according to a regulatory filing. Tyson Foods CFO John R. Tyson was arrested on public intoxication and trespassing allegations. Photo: Associated PressThe Fayetteville Police Department’s report said that the woman didn’t know Mr. Tyson and that she thought he came in through an unlocked door.

☆ Environmental groups ask P&G investors to vote against CEO as board chair
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Jessica Dinapoli | Thomson Reuters | New York-Based Reporter Covering U.S. Consumer Products Spanning Paper Towels To Packaged Food | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

They also oppose corporate directors Angela Braly, chair of the governance and public responsibility committee and Patricia Woertz, a member of that committee. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterInvestors are set to vote on the re-election of P&G's corporate directors at its annual meeting on Oct. 11. In the filing, the environmental groups request replacing Moeller with an independent chair, a structure some investors prefer. Braly's role as chair of the governance and public responsibility committee, which oversees environmental concerns including forestry, "have not succeeded in mitigating" risks in P&G's forest sourcing, the environmental groups said. The environmental groups said Moeller's work with Monsanto, owned by Bayer, "does not align with prioritizing corporate responsibility or scientific integrity."

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