Charles Elson
Charles Elson
board course decide percent whether
The board has to decide whether to sell. Thirty-five percent is a pretty big number. They have to decide if that's the right course or they may have a shareholder revolt.
agree creates defend explain forces greater management minds pressure whether
When they pressure management to defend itself, it creates greater accountability. It forces management to explain its reasoning. The other shareholders can make up their minds whether they agree or disagree. Let the shareholders decide.
board seeing
We're seeing board salaries going up all over the place.
awful restoring
That would go an awful long way to restoring confidence,
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?
fun took
It's going to be fun to watch. But the real story took place long ago.
chord economic good heard interest kinds leads lessens proposal reason separate strike time voting
Any time you separate economic interest from voting interests, it leads to all kinds of problems. It lessens the accountability. I haven't heard of any good reason for dual-class stock. I think the proposal will strike a chord with a lot of people.
disregard issue radar risk run screen
The issue is on everyone's radar screen now. If you disregard the shareholder vote, you run the risk of a proxy battle.
agreements companies excellent
It's an excellent proposal. A lot of companies have such agreements informally, particularly for directors.
people
At the time, people thought the Gilberts were like Don Quixote. But because of that case, it legitimized the use of the shareholder resolution,
managerial raymond received returns taking
It's entrepreneurial returns for managerial conduct. Exxon was there long before Mr. Raymond was there and will be there long after he leaves. Yet he received Rockefeller returns without taking the Rockefeller risk.
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.
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.
case thank
This is the quintessential case of shareholder activism, and we can thank the Gilberts for it.