In a week when Xerox’s CEO has been singled out by an activist investor, FactSet data shared with IR Magazine indicates that the number of campaigns targeting company management increased by more than 40 percent last year.
According to data provided to IR Magazine by FactSet, there were 20 activist campaigns in the US last year that targeted company officers – up from 14 in each of the previous three years. The likelihood of a CEO leaving a company doubles within the first year of an activist’s involvement, according to separate research released last year.
Although activists can have a disruptive effect on CEO tenure, they have historically been reluctant to directly target the corner office for fear that removing a CEO would be too destabilizing to the business, according to Charlie Koons, managing director of activism and contested situations at Morrow Sodali.
Koons tells IR Magazine that, although targeting a CEO can also paint an activist as adversarial rather than willing to work with the company management, a campaign against a CEO is increasingly seen as an effective way of getting the board’s attention.
‘In recent years some activists have sought to amplify their message of the need for change by targeting CEOs,’ he says. ‘It is clearly a bold tactic, but given that choosing the CEO is at the top of a board’s responsibilities, voting against the CEO can send shock waves across the entire board.’
Read the entire article here
Related News
Elly Williamson named in Women in PR's 40 Over 40 Powerlist
24 June 2025
Shareholder activism: the reality of an escalating threat in Spain
08 June 2025
Sodali & Co improves ranking across the board as UK Financial PR adviser to FTSE companies
03 June 2025
Hayden Mattiske Joins Judging Panel for the 75th Australasian Reporting Awards
05 May 2025
Media enquiries
To contact our global experts for comments please get in touch below.
Contact us chevron_right