Publications

October 2017 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Snap Inc. Goes Public (A)

By: Lynn Sharp Paine and Will Hurwitz

Snap Inc.’s chairman must decide how to address investor concerns about the company’s unprecedented plans to issue only non-voting shares in its upcoming IPO. The case is set in early 2017 following the public availability of Snap’s IPO filing with the U.S. Securities... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Capital Structure; Corporate Accountability; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Governance; Going Public; Business and Shareholder Relations; Leadership; Management; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Venture Capital; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States; California

November 2010 (Revised April 2011)
Case

Magna International, Inc. (A)

By: Timothy A. Luehrman and Yuhai Xuan

Magna International, Inc., a Canadian-based automotive parts manufacturer, is considering whether and how to unwind its dual-class ownership structure. A family trust controlled by the founder owns a 0.65% economic interest in the company but has 66% of the votes via a... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Restructuring; Cost vs Benefits; Governance Controls; Ownership Stake; Family Ownership; Auto Industry; Canada

June 2014 (Revised May 2017)
Case

Southeastern Asset Management Challenges Buyout at Dell

By: Paul Healy, Suraj Srinivasan and Aldo Sesia

In late 2012, Michael Dell wants to take Dell Inc., the company he founded, private. Mr. Dell believes that the successful company's transformation from a personal computer (PC) manufacturer to an enterprise solutions and services provider (ESS) is dependent on going... View Details

25 Jul 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas: July 25, 2017

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=52954 July 2017 Public Choice Who Will Vote Quadratically? Voter Turnout and Votes Cast Under Quadratic Voting By: Kaplow, Louis,... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

July 2012
Case

Barclays Capital and the Sale of Del Monte Foods

By: John Coates, Clayton Rose and David Lane

This case explores the reputational and legal issues that arise as Barclays Capital attempted to manage client conflicts by following established industry practice in the face of changing legal norms. In February 2011, Judge Travis Laster granted a preliminary... View Details

Keywords: Client Management; Fiduciary Duty; Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Investment Banking; Private Equity; Ethics; Finance; Reputation; Banking Industry; United States

July 2010
Supplement

Post-Crisis Compensation at Credit Suisse (C)

By: Clayton S. Rose and Aldo Sesia

The (C) case describes the results of Credit Suisse's PIP I program, the value of PAF, shareholders' vote on the new compensation plan supported by management, and the impact of the company's approach to the U.K. banker's tax. View Details

Keywords: Voting; Taxation; Compensation and Benefits; Business and Shareholder Relations; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Switzerland; United Kingdom

25 Feb 2014
First Look

First Look: February 25

Biglari initiates a proxy fight in an attempt to win a board position and change the direction of Cracker Barrel's strategy. Two leading proxy advisory firms, ISS and Glass Lewis, disagree on supporting Biglari. One advises shareholders... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2020
Article

Compensation Consultants and the Level, Composition, and Complexity of CEO Pay

By: Kevin J. Murphy and Tatiana Sandino

We provide fresh evidence regarding the relation between compensation consultants and CEO pay. First, firms that employ consultants have higher-paid CEOs—this result is robust to firm fixed effects and matching on economic and governance variables. Second, while this... View Details

Keywords: Consultants; Benchmarking; Incentive Pay; Executive Compensation; Complexity; Motivation and Incentives; Governance

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2019
Working Paper

Compensation Consultants and the Level, Composition, and Complexity of CEO Pay

By: Kevin J. Murphy and Tatiana Sandino

We provide fresh evidence regarding the relation between compensation consultants and CEO pay. First, firms that employ consultants have higher-paid CEOs—this result is robust to firm fixed effects and matching on economic and governance variables. Second, while this... View Details

Keywords: Consultants; Benchmarking; Incentive Pay; Executive Compensation; Complexity; Motivation and Incentives; Governance

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January 20, 2020
Article

Larry Fink Isn't Going to Read Your Sustainability Report

By: Mark R. Kramer

In his recent annual letter to CEOs, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink makes the stunning claim that climate change has brought us to “the edge of a fundamental reshaping of finance” and “in the near future … a significant reallocation of capital.” BlackRock has committed to... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Business Model; Investment

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30 Jan 2017
Research & Ideas

Vanguard, Trian And The Problem With 'Passive' Index Funds

is not in the best interest of their investors. For example, Vanguard has participated in proxy votes at shareholder meetings. While it has mostly voted in accordance with... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

April 1998 (Revised May 2001)
Supplement

Acquisition of Consolidated Rail Corporation (B), The

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Lori A. Flees and Mathew M Millett

Eight days after CSX announced it was going to buy Consolidated Rail (Conrail) for $88.65 per share, Norfolk Southern made a hostile $100 per share bid for Conrail. Over the next several months, the potential acquirers upped their bids while exchanging criticism in the... View Details

Keywords: Law; Valuation; Rail Transportation; Bids and Bidding; Governance Controls; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Strategy; Corporate Finance; Rail Industry; United States

March 2018 (Revised March 2018)
Teaching Note

OpenInvest

By: Boris Vallee and Caitlin Reimers Brumme

Founded by a team of hedge fund and NGO alumni, OpenInvest launched its platform in 2015 to enable retail investors to tailor their portfolio to their personal values in an automated way, for instance by screening out weapon manufacturers stocks or overweighting LGBTQ... View Details

Keywords: Socially Responsible Investing; Investing For Impact; Robo-advisors; Investment; Values and Beliefs; Customization and Personalization; Technology; Financial Services Industry

02 Jul 2013
First Look

First Look: July 2

Diether, and Christopher Malloy Abstract—We demonstrate that legislation has a simple, yet previously undetected impact on stock prices. Exploiting the voting record of legislators whose constituents are the affected industries, we show... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

5 Feb 2013
Conference Presentation

Financing Entrepreneurial Growth

By: Tom Alberg, Andrew A. Bogan, Harold Bradley, Robert D. Cooter, Monika Gruter Cheney, Oliver R. Goodenough, William R. Hambrecht, Frank Hatheway, Thomas F. Hellmann, Marianne Hudson, Jared Konczal, Josh Lerner, Robert E. Litan, Diane Mulcahy, Ramana Nanda, Frank Partnoy, Joe Ratterman, Nava Ravikant, Jay R. Ritter, Alicia Robb, David T. Robinson, Allison Schrager, Barry Silbert, E. R. Sirri, Daniel Stangler and Sharon Vosmek

Despite recent innovations in entrepreneurial finance, particularly at the early stage of business creation, many new and young companies continue to face hurdles to acquire capital.

The Kauffman Foundation addressed current challenges and opportunities in... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Entrepreneurial Finance; Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship; United States

SSRN

Research Summary

The Value of Family Ownership, Control, and Management

In collaboration with Professor Raphael Amit of Wharton, Belén Villalonga is investigating how family ownership, control, and management affect firm value. Their forthcoming Journal of Financial... View Details

18 Sep 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, September 18, 2018

paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54967 Does Context Trump Individual Drivers of Voting Behavior? Evidence from U.S. Movers By: Cantoni, Enrico, and Vincent Pons Abstract—This paper assesses the relative influence of... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

August 2002 (Revised June 2003)
Case

New Wachovia (A), The

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin and Jeremy Swinson

In April 2001, First Union Corp. announced an agreement to merge with Wachovia Corp., a fellow North Carolina-based commercial bank. While the banks were preparing to consummate the merger, SunTrust Banks, Inc. of Atlanta, made a hostile offer for Wachovia, setting in... View Details

Keywords: Voting; Mergers and Acquisitions; Conflict and Resolution; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; Atlanta; North Carolina