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- February 2021
- Case
Apple: Privacy vs. Safety (A)
By: Henry McGee, Nien-hê Hsieh and Christian Godwin
In 2015, Apple CEO Tim Cook debuted the iPhone 6S with enhanced security measures that enflamed a debate on privacy and public safety around the world. The iPhone 6S, amid a heightened concern for privacy following the 2013 revelation of clandestine U.S. surveillance...
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Keywords:
Iphone;
Encryption;
Data Privacy;
Corporate Social Responsibility And Impact;
Mobile Technology;
Civil Society Or Community;
Customers;
Customer Focus and Relationships;
Decision Making;
Ethics;
Values and Beliefs;
Globalized Firms and Management;
Government and Politics;
National Security;
Law;
Law Enforcement;
Leadership;
Markets;
Safety;
Social Issues;
Technology;
Technology Industry;
Consumer Products Industry;
Telecommunications Industry;
Electronics Industry;
United States;
China;
Hong Kong
- February 2021
- Case
Shareholder Activists and Corporate Strategy
By: David J. Collis and Caeden Brynie
This library case examines the rise of shareholder activism in recent years, particularly in the public eye, and analyzes its effects on corporate strategy, growth, and shareholder value. It looks at three contemporary targets of shareholder activism in particular—Bed...
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- November 2020 (Revised February 2021)
- Case
Wes Hall and the BlackNorth Initiative
By: Shikhar Ghosh, Marilyn Morgan Westner and Reza Satchu
Wes Hall founded Kingsdale Advisors and built it into one of Canada’s leading shareholder services and advisory firms. Influenced by the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and a series of social injustices—specifically the death of George Floyd in police custody—Hall...
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- 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...
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- July 2020 (Revised March 2021)
- Case
Board Diversity at Amazon (A)
By: Aiyesha Dey and Anu Atluru
The case revolves around the decisions that the board of directors of ecommerce giant Amazon would need to make in response to the controversial letter that activist shareholder CtW investment group sent to Amazon’s shareholders, urging them to vote in favor of a...
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Keywords:
Board Of Directors;
Boards;
Governing and Advisory Boards;
Diversity;
Gender;
Race;
United States
- March 2020 (Revised May 2020)
- Case
CIAM: Home-Grown Shareholder Activism in France
By: Charles C.Y. Wang, Tonia Labruyere and Vincent Dessain
The case discusses the strategy of CIAM, a French activist investment firm, involved in a case of a buy-out of minority shareholders in the telecommunications sector. Altice NV, an international telecommunications company based in the Netherlands that owned more than...
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- 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...
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- 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...
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- August 2018 (Revised April 2021)
- Case
The Fuji-Xerox Merger
By: Guhan Subramanian and Annie Zhao
In January 2018, Xerox, a well-known American digital document firm, convened its board of directors to decide whether to approve a merger with Japanese imaging company Fujifilm. Activist Xerox shareholders were suing to halt the transaction, and documents unearthed...
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- 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...
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- 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,...
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- 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...
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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...
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- 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...
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- January 2016 (Revised January 2019)
- Case
The Allergan Board Under Fire (A)
By: Lynn S. Paine, Suraj Srinivasan, John C. Coates and David Lane
In 2014, the Allergan Inc. board of directors received a surprise takeover offer from Valeant Pharmaceuticals in alliance with hedge fund activist Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management. In the unprecedented arrangement between an acquirer and a hedge fund...
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Keywords:
Allergan, Inc.;
Valeant;
Ackman;
Pershing Square;
Tender Offer;
Activist Investors;
Business Models;
R＆d;
Board Of Directors;
Securities Litigation;
Acquisition Strategy;
Takeover Defenses;
Hedge Funds;
Shareholder Rights;
Proxy Contest;
Shareholder Special Meetings;
Legal Issues In Contested Takeovers;
Governing and Advisory Boards;
Mergers and Acquisitions;
Corporate Governance;
Management Teams;
Business and Shareholder Relations;
Pharmaceutical Industry
- January 2016 (Revised January 2019)
- Supplement
The Allergan Board Under Fire (B)
By: Lynn S. Paine, Suraj Srinivasan, John C. Coates and David Lane
In 2014, the Allergan Inc. board of directors received a surprise takeover offer from Valeant Pharmaceuticals in alliance with hedge fund activist Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management. In the unprecedented arrangement between an acquirer and a hedge fund...
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Keywords:
Allergan, Inc.;
Valeant;
Ackman;
Pershing Square;
Tender Offer;
Activist Investors;
Business Models;
R＆d;
Board Of Directors;
Securities Litigation;
Acquisition Strategy;
Takeover Defenses;
Hedge Funds;
Shareholder Rights;
Proxy Contest;
Shareholder Special Meetings;
Legal Issues In Contested Takeovers;
Corporate Governance;
Investment Activism;
Business and Stakeholder Relations;
Business Model;
Business and Shareholder Relations;
Valuation;
Pharmaceutical Industry
- November 2015 (Revised October 2017)
- Case
Dollar General Bids for Family Dollar
By: Jonas Heese, Paula A. Price, Suraj Srinivasan and David Lane
In spring 2015, Dollar General's 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...
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- September 2015 (Revised September 2017)
- Case
Pershing Square 2.0
By: Robin Greenwood, Samuel Hanson and David Biery
In June 2015 William A. Ackman, the CEO and founder of New York hedge fund Pershing Square Capital, reflects on the success of the fund he has spent over a decade building. Since its inception in 2004, Pershing Square's assets under management had grown from $500...
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- September 2015 (Revised February 2016)
- Case
Novell (A): When an Activist Hedge Fund Came Calling on the Board
By: Richard L. Nolan
No corporation and its board of directors is immune to a disruptive shareholder activist attack. The Novell (A) and (B) cases take students through a shareholder activist attack and its aftermath—a saga that spanned 5 years. The cases outline the activist playbook in...
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Keywords:
Investment Activism
- September 2015 (Revised February 2016)
- Supplement
Novell (B): Board of Directors Aftermath of Hedge Fund Attack
By: Richard L. Nolan
No corporation and its board of directors is immune to a disruptive shareholder activist attack. The Novell (A) and (B) cases take students through a shareholder activist attack and its aftermath—a saga that spanned 5 years. The cases outline the activist playbook in...
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