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The increasingly aggressive and rising level of investor activism leveled against corporations has been both a cause of concern to managements and boards and a sign of greater corporate responsiveness to investor stakeholders.
Among the major companies recently targeted are Amgen, Apple, Microsoft, Sony, Hess, P&G, eBay, Transocean, ITW, DuPont, and PepsiCo. Yet even as critics decry such moves as an encouragement to short-termism, advocates contend they can lead to greater corporate efficiency and higher share prices.
Read: “When the Activists Attack” –part of our CFO Square-Off
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Apple said Wednesday that a court order requiring it to help the FBI break into the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino mass shooters represents an “unprecedented” threat to the security of its customers.
Syed Farook’s iPhone is protected by a feature that automatically wipes it clean of all its data after 10 incorrect password attempts have been entered. FBI Director James B. Comey told Congress last week that agents had not been able to access the data.
Read: “Apple, FBI Face off Over Access to Killer’s iPhone”
U.S., Cuba Sign Pact to Resume Scheduled Flights
The agreement authorizes up to 110 round trips a day to Cuba’s 10 international airports.
When the Activists Attack
Four experts opine from four different angles on what’s the right approach to investor activism.
Healthy Dialogue Curbs Hostile Activism
Shareholder activism tends to reveal an underlying miscommunication between a company and its shareholders.
Stale Boards Are Prime Targets of Investor Activism
Governance issues are often front and center in the target range of investor activism.
Avoid Proxy Wars with Activist Investors
Activists won proxy wars with companies about 75% of the time in 2014.
The Activist Investor Within
The common belief is that activist investors are the only ones with an agenda. That is plain rubbish.
U.S. Housing Starts Drop 3.8% in January
Economists say the fundamentals of the housing market remain strong and the January decline may only be a temporary setback.
Apple, FBI Face off Over Access to Killer’s iPhone
The company is opposing a court order requiring it to help the FBI unlock the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino mass shooters.
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