Elliott Investment Management has requested a special meeting at Southwest Airlines , formalizing the launch of a long-signaled proxy fight for control of the carrier's board. Elliott has also trimmed the size of its board slate from 10 director candidates to eight, after Southwest shrunk its board size from 15 to 12. CNBC reported last month that Elliott was preparing to call a special meeting. David Hess, who joined Southwest's board in 2021, was also on the board of Arconic in the midst of its proxy fight with Elliott. Elliott has never before called for a special meeting, which at Southwest carries a higher threshold of approval compared with voting at a regularly scheduled shareholder meeting.

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Persons: Elliott, Bob Jordan, Gary Kelly, David Hess, Elliott . Hess, Jordan, Southwest's, John Pike, Bobby Xu, — CNBC's Leslie Josephs Organizations: Hartsfield, Jackson Atlanta International, Elliott Investment Management, Southwest Airlines, Southwest, CNBC, Alcoa, Artisan Partners, Salesforce, Starbucks Locations: Atlanta , Georgia