Publications
Publications
Show Results For
-
All HBS Web
(599)
- Faculty Publications (48)
Page 1 of
48
Results
→
Are you looking for?
(Editor's Note. Carl Icahn is in the news again. On Monday, SEC filings revealed the militant investor has sold his entire stake in eBay, after...
- October 2020 (Revised November 2020)
- Case
Digging for Gold: Paulson & Co.'s Activism in the Gold Sector
By: Suraj Srinivasan and Jonah S. Goldberg
The case describes the efforts of hedge fund Paulson & Co to influence corporate governance and improve performance in the gold industry. In an innovative move, the hedge fund led the creation of the Shareholder Gold Council, a consortium of large investors in gold...
View Details
- November 2019 (Revised April 2021)
- Case
United Technologies: Are the Parts Worth More Than the Whole?
By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher
After spending more than 50 years creating a diversified industrial conglomerate that Fortune magazine described as “arguably the most profitable conglomerate in America” in 2014, UTC’s CEO Greg Hayes was under pressure from activist investors (Dan Loeb and Bill...
View Details
- November 2019
- Supplement
United Technologies Corp.: Are the Parts Worth More Than the Whole?
By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher
After spending more than 50 years creating a diversified industrial conglomerate that Fortune Magazine described as “arguably the most profitable conglomerate in America” in 2014, UTC’s CEO Greg Hayes was under pressure from activist investors (Dan Loeb and Bill...
View Details
Keywords:
Corporate Strategy;
Business Conglomerates;
Financial Management;
Corporate Governance;
Organizational Structure;
Diversification;
Valuation;
Investment Activism;
Financial Strategy;
Investment Funds;
Value Creation;
Aerospace Industry;
Electronics Industry;
Industrial Products Industry;
United States
- November 2019
- Article
The Relevance of Broker Networks for Information Diffusion in the Stock Market
By: Marco Di Maggio, Francesco Franzoni, Amir Kermani and Carlo Sommavilla
This paper shows that the network of relationships between brokers and institutional investors shapes information diffusion in the stock market. We exploit trade-level data to show that central brokers gather information by executing informed trades, which is then...
View Details
- October 2019
- Case
A Conversation with Ellen J. Kullman, Chairman & CEO of DuPont, 2009-2015
By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz
Ellen J. Kullman, the retired Chairman and CEO of DuPont, describes how she guided the storied science and technology company through a contentious proxy battle with activist investor Trian Partners, which acquired DuPont shares in 2013 and sought to break up the...
View Details
- October 2018
- Case
The Proxy Fight at ADP
By: Robin Greenwood and E. Scott Mayfield
In July 2017, shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) surged 12% following a report that the activist investor Bill Ackman had acquired a sizable stake in the company and planned to nominate his own slate of directors at the company’s annual meeting in...
View Details
- March 2018
- Case
Sachem Head's Activism at Autodesk
By: Suraj Srinivasan and Quinn Pitcher
In 2015, activist hedge fund Sachem Head Capital, led by founder Scott Ferguson, launched an activist campaign at computer aided design (CAD) software maker Autodesk. The activist campaign, waged mainly in private, was over Autodesk's lackluster financial performance,...
View Details
- January 2018
- Case
Mary Barra, CEO, General Motors
By: Nitin Nohria, Kerry Herman and Sarah Gulick
Library case detailing the career of Mary Barra, GM’s CEO from January 2014, and her handling of the GM ignitions scandal, GM’s move into electric and autonomous car development, and activist investors.
View Details
- January 2018
- Case
Trian Partners' Proxy Contest at Procter & Gamble
By: Suraj Srinivasan and Quinn Pitcher
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...
View Details
- November 2017
- Case
Third Point Paints a Target on Sotheby's
By: Lena G. Goldberg
When faced with the increasing accumulation of its stock by activist investors led by Daniel Loeb’s Third Point LLC and the activists’ stated objective to replace management and at least some Sotheby’s Board members, Sotheby’s, the world’s oldest auction house,...
View Details
- 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
- January 2017
- Case
Danaher Corporation, 2007–2017
By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth
On July 2, 2016, Danaher Corporation completed the spinoff of Fortive Corporation. The previous day, Danaher’s stock price had reached an all-time high. In 2015, Danaher had decided to split off its test and measurement, fuel and fleet management, and automation...
View Details
Keywords:
Danaher;
Fortive;
Larry Culp;
Beckman Coulter;
Pall;
Life Sciences;
Diagnostics;
Environmental Operations;
Water Management;
Dental;
Testing;
Measurement;
Fuel;
Fleet Management;
Automation;
Toolmaking;
Tools;
Disease Management;
Continuous Improvement;
Toyota Production System;
Divestiture;
Spinoffs;
Spin-off;
Networks;
Acquisition;
Mergers and Acquisitions;
Business Conglomerates;
Business Divisions;
Business Subsidiaries;
Business Units;
Business Growth and Maturation;
Business Model;
For-Profit Firms;
Joint Ventures;
Restructuring;
Engineering;
Chemicals;
Construction;
Machinery and Machining;
Profit;
Revenue;
Globalized Firms and Management;
Multinational Firms and Management;
Health;
Health Care and Treatment;
Health Disorders;
Medical Specialties;
Business History;
Job Cuts and Outsourcing;
Business or Company Management;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques;
Management Practices and Processes;
Management Succession;
Management Systems;
Resource Allocation;
Market Entry and Exit;
Measurement and Metrics;
Logistics;
Business Processes;
Organizational Change and Adaptation;
Public Ownership;
Problems and Challenges;
Science;
Genetics;
Natural Environment;
Wastes and Waste Processing;
Science-Based Business;
Opportunities;
Strategy;
Adaptation;
Business Strategy;
Competition;
Competitive Strategy;
Competitive Advantage;
Consolidation;
Corporate Strategy;
Diversification;
Expansion;
Technology;
Software;
Technology Networks;
Technology Platform;
Value;
Valuation;
Aerospace Industry;
Auto Industry;
Biotechnology Industry;
Chemical Industry;
Computer Industry;
Construction Industry;
Consumer Products Industry;
Distribution Industry;
Electronics Industry;
Food and Beverage Industry;
Health Industry;
Industrial Products Industry;
Information Technology Industry;
Manufacturing Industry;
Medical Devices and Supplies Industry;
Pharmaceutical Industry;
Retail Industry;
Rubber Industry;
Semiconductor Industry;
Shipping Industry;
Technology Industry;
Telecommunications Industry;
Utilities Industry;
United States;
District of Columbia
- August 2016 (Revised July 2019)
- Case
Alere
By: Raffaella Sadun, Catherine Slater and Channing Spencer
The Board of Alere, Inc., a leading medical diagnostic firm, is evaluating the offer made by Ron Zwanziger, the firm’s founder and former CEO, to acquire the company and take it private. The offer arrives at the end of a tumultuous year for the company, which saw...
View Details
- July 2016
- Case
'Golden Leash' Pay for Directors at The Dow Chemical Company
By: Ian Gow, Suraj Srinivasan and Neeraj Goyal
In November 2014, The Dow Chemical Company was faced with the prospect of a proxy battle with prominent hedge fund and activist investor Third Point Management. The activist had criticized Dow’s recent performance and advocated that the company split itself to maximize...
View Details
- June 2016 (Revised May 2017)
- Case
FANUC Corporation: Reassessing the Firm's Governance and Financial Policies
By: Benjamin C. Esty, Nobuo Sato and Akiko Kanno
In February 2015, Daniel Loeb (a U.S.–based activist investor) announced his firm had a large investment in FANUC Corporation, a leading producer of industrial robots and software for machine tools. Loeb was demanding that the Japanese firm change its financial and...
View Details
Keywords:
Hedge Funds;
Economic Policy;
Investments;
Government Policy;
Deregulation;
Financial Management;
Valuation;
Investment Funds;
Policy;
Corporate Governance;
Macroeconomics;
Investment Activism;
Change Management;
Financial Strategy;
Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues;
Japan;
United States
- June 2016
- Supplement
FANUC Corporation: Reassessing the Firm's Governance and Financial Policies Spreadsheet Supplement
By: Benjamin C. Esty and Akiko Kanno
In February 2015, Daniel Loeb (a US-based activist investor) announced his firm had a large investment in FANUC Corporation, a leading producer of industrial robots and software for machine tools. Loeb was demanding that the Japanese firm change its financial and...
View Details
- June 2016 (Revised May 2017)
- Case
A Note on Activist Investors and the Tech Sector
By: David B. Yoffie and Eric Baldwin
This short note provides background and data on the growing role of corporate activists, especially in high-technology industries.
View Details
- April 2016 (Revised June 2017)
- Teaching Note
Dollar General Bids for Family Dollar
By: Jonas Heese, Paula A. Price and Suraj Srinivasan
In spring 2015, Dollar General CEO Rick Dreiling was looking ahead to retiring at year's end but worried about ensuring continued growth for the company he had built since 2008 into a market leader in the U.S. discount retail world. Dollar General operated over 11,500...
View Details