Publications

04 Nov 2015
News

Activist Investors Are Finding It Easier Than Ever to Get Board Seats

11 May 2015
News

How DuPont went to war with activist investor Nelson Peltz

May 2017 (Revised October 2017)
Teaching Note

eBay vs. Carl Icahn, 2014, and A Note on Activist Investors and the Tech Sector

By: David B. Yoffie and Eric Baldwin

Teaching note to accompany eBay vs. Carl Icahn, 2014, HBS Case #717-417; eBay vs. Carl Icahn, 2014: Interview with John Donahoe, eBay CEO 2008-2015; A Note on Activist Investors and the Tech Section HBS Case #716-462 View Details

March 2017
Supplement

eBay vs. Carl Icahn, 2014: Interview with John Donahoe, eBay CEO 2008-2015

By: David B. Yoffie, Eric Baldwin and Tom Ryder

This video, a supplement to HBS Case No. 717-417, features an interview with former eBay CEO John Donahoe, providing his perspective on eBay's response to activist investor Carl Icahn's attack on eBay, which began in January 2014. After giving some of his own... View Details

Keywords: Activist Shareholder; Activist Investors; Technology; Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Investment Activism; Financial Services Industry; Retail Industry; Technology Industry

Find at Harvard

04 Dec 2013
News

Abercrombie Activists May Affect Change

12 Apr 2013
News

The Market Needs Shareholder Activist

26 Sep 2013
News

Air Products CEO John McGlad to Retire Amid Pressure from Activist Investor

21 Jun 2017
News

Are Activists Being Sabotaged by Their Brokers?

03 Nov 2014
News

Activists Fall Short on Coaching Management

19 Jan 2011
Research & Ideas

Activist Board Members Increase Firm’s Market Value

returns for different firms on October 4, the day the SEC announced the delay. In particular, they compared the return for companies where investors known for being activists held large stakes.... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

June 2025
Case

Vail Resorts: Responding to Activist Pressure (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Edward A. Meyer

On January 27, 2025, the head of a relatively small hedge fund named Late Apex Partners sent a highly critical letter to the board of directors of Vail Resorts, the world’s largest ski resort operator. In his letter, and the 88-slide presentation that accompanied his... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Finance; Capital Budgeting; Corporate Governance; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Leading Change; Valuation; Investment Activism; Climate Change; Management Succession; Financial Management; Risk Management; Business and Shareholder Relations; Sports Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Travel Industry; United States; Australia; Canada

September 2008 (Revised October 2008)
Supplement

Shareholder Activists at Friendly Ice Cream (A2)

By: V.G. Narayanan, Fabrizio Ferri and James Weber

The A1 and A2 versions of the “Shareholder Activists at Friendly Ice Cream (A)” split the original A case into two parts. The A1 case ends as activists Sardar Biglari and Phil Cooley prepare to meet with CEO Don Smith at Friendly's headquarters in September 2006. The... View Details

Keywords: Investment Activism; Business and Shareholder Relations; Governing and Advisory Boards; Conflict and Resolution; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business or Company Management; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

Article

Investor Activism and Takeovers

By: Robin Greenwood and Michael Schor

Recent work documents large positive abnormal returns around the time that a hedge fund announces its activist intentions with a publicly listed firm. We show that these returns are largely explained by the ability of activists to force target firms into a takeover: In... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity; Investment Return; Investment Activism; Investment Portfolio; Public Ownership

26 Aug 2013
News

Activists Seek Short-Term Gain, Not Long-Term Value

22 Aug 2007
Research & Ideas

The Hedge Fund as Activist

activist SEC filings between 1993 and 2006, focusing on instances where the target of the activism is a U.S. firm. In total, our database contains almost 1,000 events. Our main result is that targets of View Details

Keywords: by Robin Greenwood; Financial Services

August 2016 (Revised May 2017)
Case

eBay vs. Carl Icahn, 2014

By: David B. Yoffie and Eric Baldwin

This case explores Carl Icahn's attack on eBay, starting in January 2014. The case examines how John Donahoe, CEO of eBay, should respond to Icahn's demand that eBay spin off PayPal and accept Icahn's two nominees to the board of directors. View Details

Keywords: Activist Shareholder; Activist Investors; Technology; Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Investment Activism; Financial Services Industry; Retail Industry

September 2008 (Revised October 2008)
Case

Shareholder Activists at Friendly Ice Cream (A1)

By: Fabrizio Ferri, V.G. Narayanan and James Weber

Two activist investors, one a founder and one a hedge fund manager, seek to improve board oversight at a chain restaurant company. Prestley Blake founded Friendly Ice Cream in 1935 with his brother, and the two created a chain of full-service restaurants. In 1979, they... View Details

Keywords: Investment Activism; Governing and Advisory Boards; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business or Company Management; Business and Shareholder Relations; Conflict of Interests; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

April 2008 (Revised September 2008)
Case

Shareholder Activists at Friendly Ice Cream (A)

By: Fabrizio Ferri, V.G. Narayanan and James Weber

Two activist investors, one a founder and one a hedge-fund manager, seek to improve board oversight at a chain restaurant company. Prestley Blake founded Friendly Ice Cream in 1935 with his brother, and the two created a chain of full-service restaurants. In 1979 they... View Details

Keywords: Investment Activism; Governing and Advisory Boards; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business or Company Management; Business and Shareholder Relations; Conflict of Interests; Food and Beverage Industry; United States