After one of Norfolk Southern’s freight trains derailed last year, spilling hazardous chemicals in an Ohio town, the company’s leaders were assailed by lawmakers, regulators and angry residents, an onslaught the executives managed to survive.
But Norfolk Southern’s management faces a fresh challenge this week from an investment firm that is asking shareholders to vote to replace the company’s chief executive, Alan Shaw, and appoint new directors to its board.
The campaign by Ancora, a Cleveland investment firm, invokes the accident in East Palestine, the Ohio town, but its main aim is to overhaul Norfolk Southern’s business strategy to bolster its profits.
The company’s leaders are vulnerable because Norfolk Southern’s stock price and profit margins lag those of its peers.
Ancora’s plan in large part rests on cutting costs and making the company’s 19,100-mile rail network run more efficiently.
Persons:
Alan Shaw, Ancora’s
Organizations:
Norfolk
Locations:
Norfolk, Ohio, Cleveland, East Palestine