Rather than sparking typical cheer on Wall Street, Elliott's campaign, spelled out in a 50-page presentation, led to confusion and concern among investors and customers.
Several activism experts pointed to two of Elliott's past targets for insight into the hedge fund's strategy for Southwest: Suncor Energy in 2022 and Marathon Petroleum in 2019.
Elliott partner John Pike, who is now leading the Southwest campaign, was involved in the firm's actions at both energy companies.
Pike and portfolio manager Bobby Xu are leading Elliott's Southwest campaign.
But in 2018, a few months after reaching an agreement with Elliott, Marathon announced it was only getting bigger.
Persons:
David Paul Morris, Elliott, Bob Jordan, Gary Kelly, Elliott hasn't, Southwest's, John Pike, Haviv Ilan, Marc Benioff, Jordan, Pike, Bobby Xu, Vinson, Elkins, Mark Little, Elliott's Pike, Suncor's, Little, Rich Kruger, Candace Elliott, Marathon, Weeks, Gary Heminger, Mike Hennigan, Hennigan, hasn't, It's, isn't, Kelly, it's, Xu, — CNBC's Leslie Josephs
Organizations:
Southwest Airlines, Oakland International Airport, Bloomberg, Getty, Elliott Management, Southwest, Melius Research, Suncor Energy, Marathon Petroleum, Marathon, Etsy . Texas, of America, Suncor's Petro, Canada, Canadian, Petro - Canada, Petro, Exxon Mobil, Reuters, Speedway, Elliott, Company, Heminger, Artisan Partners, Suncor, Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, CNBC
Locations:
Oakland , California, Dallas, Suncor, New York, West Palm Beach , Florida, Etsy, Canada, Sherwood Park , Alberta, Marathon, Southwest