Charles Elson
Charles Elson
agreements companies excellent
It's an excellent proposal. A lot of companies have such agreements informally, particularly for directors.
activism designed good increase term value view
It's a good thing. I view shareholder activism that's designed to increase shareholder value long term as positive.
board seeing
We're seeing board salaries going up all over the place.
company confidence directors fact good might pay
The fact that directors might go without pay is meaningful. It shows, on the part of the directors, confidence that the company has a good future.
almost expressing third voted
Those are big numbers. Almost a third of the shareholders who voted are expressing discontent.
happen information legally liability stock trading
Trading on stock on nonpublic information is legally problematic for the SEC, absolutely. But to get to liability is a pretty long road. It doesn't happen very easily.
anyone asking failure led pick system
When you see something like this, it begs asking what failure in their system led to this. Why didn't anyone pick it up?
case thank
This is the quintessential case of shareholder activism, and we can thank the Gilberts for it.
board escape failure internal large question
The big question is: Was this a failure of internal controls, or a failure of the board itself? How did something this large escape their notice?
executives incentive large seem standing valid
The whole idea of parachutes was to keep executives from standing in the way of valid transactions. What they seem to have become, because of their large size, is an incentive to do transactions.
appeared complete concern definition few gotten incorrect might
A few years ago, something that appeared incorrect might not be changed. Today, with heightened concern over complete accuracy, the definition of materiality has gotten a lot broader.
calls
This indicates some receptiveness to calls for better governance.
move smarter
I think it's a smarter move on his part.
board bright company engaged figure financial small sort
He's a very bright guy. He'll figure his way out of this. The financial world is a very small place. When you're on the board of a company engaged in financial transactions, this sort of thing may happen.