Beyond their own operations, however, many companies have refrained from advocating for broader solutions needed to avoid a global catastrophe, said Bill Weihl, who led sustainability efforts at Facebook and Google and will head the new organization, ClimateVoice. Employees at tech companies have objected to selling cloud services to Big Oil, and companies are reticent…
Category: activism
JPMorgan rejects calls to disclose lending’s impact on climate | American Banker
JPMorgan Chase is resisting proposals from activist investors that would require it to take stock of the impact its lending activities are having on climate change. Several members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility want to put several climate-related proposals to a shareholder vote that would, among other things, ask the bank disclose how…
Majority Action Wants Former Exxon CEO Off the Board of JPMorgan
Few people are in a position to influence Jamie Dimon, the chief executive who turned JPMorgan Chase & Co. into the biggest U.S. bank. The longtime climate skeptic who turned Exxon Mobil Corp. into the biggest U.S. oil company is one of them. Lee R. Raymond, 81, holds the top position on JPMorgan’s 11-member board…
The World’s Most-Profitable Hedge Fund Is Now a Climate Radical – Bloomberg
The hedge fund industry has no shortage of aggressive, in-your-face players, but few are as tough as Chris Hohn. The British billionaire takes the typical playbook to new levels—scuttling deals, pushing to remove bosses, and battering companies with litigation and threats. One opponent was so peeved after losing a boardroom battle with Hohn that he…
Board of tech group Inex to step down amid governance row
Big corporations are in favor of activism and engagement when they are investors. The entire board of tech group Inex will step down following pressure from some of its leading members, including Google and BT Ireland, arising from a corporate governance row. In an email to members shortly before Christmas, the company confirmed that three…
Corporate debt nears a record $10 trillion, and borrowing binge poses new risks – The Washington Post
Little more than a decade after consumers binged on inexpensive mortgages that helped bring on a global financial crisis, a new debt surge — this time by major corporations — threatens to unleash fresh turmoil. A decade of historically low interest rates has allowed companies to sell record amounts of bonds to investors, sending total…
Trian and P&G highlight activist-corporate collaboration after ‘fog of war’ – Reuters
Eighteen months after officially burying the hatchet in one of America’s most bitter proxy contests, Procter & Gamble Co (PG.N) CEO David Taylor and billionaire investor Nelson Peltz proclaimed their mutual respect on Thursday, underscoring how activists and corporations can end up working collaboratively…After an incredibly close proxy contest, which could have dragged on for…
Climate activists find warmer reception at shareholder meetings – Reuters
Climate activists found companies more receptive to steps like cutting emissions or buying clean power this year, a new tally of shareholder resolutions shows, a trend proponents said undercuts the case for proxy rule changes sought by business groups. Of the 145 climate-related proposals filed for this year’s springtime annual meeting season, 39 percent led…
Report: Shareholder Activism Jan-June 2019
Activist Insight on Shareholder Activism and Engagement in the first half of 2019: The first six months of 2019 have provided plenty of interesting activist activity in what seems like a longer proxy season than last year’s. Late-season fights at HomeStreet and EQT (this month’s campaign in focus) have kept us on our toes, as…
Activision Blizzard CEO’s $30M Pay Under Fire From Labor Union | Hollywood Reporter
The AFL-CIO’s secretary-treasurer, Liz Shuler, is calling on the SEC to “take action on corporate executives who abuse stock buybacks for their own personal gain.”The AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest federation of unions, has taken aim at Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick and his annual compensation in 2018 following a massive round of layoffs earlier this…
