Trian Partners' Proxy Contest at Procter & Gamble

In July 2017, activist hedge fund Trian Partners announced that it was launching a proxy fight at U.S. consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble. P&G would be the largest company ever subjected to a proxy fight, as Trian sought to have its CEO, Nelson Peltz, elected to the board and challenged long-held conceptions on whether massive companies were immune to shareholder activism. Peltz and Trian asserted that P&G had underperformed relative to both the overall market and its peers for the better part of 10 years. A byzantine organizational structure and a lack of product innovation had seen margins decline and P&G lose market share to upstart brands that appealed to new sensibilities. P&G countered arguing that it had outperformed since the appointment of its newest CEO, David Taylor, in November 2015, and that it had already made a number of structural changes that addressed Trian's criticisms. P&G also defended its product portfolio, which included staples like Tide and Pampers, against P&G's criticism. Trian had the support of many large institutional investors and proxy advisers, but P&G had the support of its retail shareholders and many analysts. The initial vote was too close to call, so both companies would enter into the "snake pit" process, an arduous recount to see which side would turn out on top.