Weekly Activism & Executive Moves Review (April 26)

by | Apr 26, 2024

Activism Snapshot

The Norfolk Southern vs. Ancora battle continues to get uglier. In the most recent turn, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Steven Tian of the Yale School of Management’s Chief Executive Leadership Institute published an article in Fortune that Ancora believes was a “smear piece”. Ancora’s recent DFAN14A filing details what they believe to be issues with misstatements and omissions in the article and supporting presentation and makes available the series of letters from Ancora and their legal team at Cadwalader asking for retractions and corrections.

NSC CEO Alan Shaw’s Tenure Lags Peers

Ancora asserts at the end of their second letter that they “…have a history of attacking investors who are running proxy contests against clients of your program’s donors” and wonders if “…Yale is aware of the way you are using their name to advance the agenda of the failing management team of a major American corporation.”

Throughout this proxy season we’ve argued that boards and executives should be held more to account by their shareholders. In this case, a look at some basic metrics over the course of CEO Alan Shaw’s tenure suggests that Ancora (and other concerned investors) may have a case.

Other Activist News

  • Orthofix Medical (OFIX) and Engine Capital amended their December 2023 cooperation agreement to allow for Engine to solicit proxies for their nominees (Alan L. Bazaar, Michael M. Finegan or Charles R. Kummeth) in the event that the board believes (in consultation with counsel) that nominating the directors would violate the Board’s fiduciary duties.
  • Turtle Beach (HEAR) announced that Donerail Group’s represntative on the board — Michelle D. Wilson — is not standing for reelection. According to their May 2022 cooperation agreement, both the Board and Donerail will collaborate to find a replacement director.
  • Still no proxy related filings in the Equity Commonweath (EQC) vs. Land & Buildings impending fight. See Land & Buildings original release here.
  • And, nothing new yet in the deSPAC Alight (ALIT) impending fight with Starboard. Starboard owns about 8% of ALIT and intends to nominate Keith D. Dorsey, Matthew C. Levin and Coretha Rushing against the three ALIT class 3 directors that will be standing for election.

Catch up on the latest Activism and Governance research from Boardroom Alpha:

CEO / CFO Moves Snapshot

It’s another week where we see Co-CEOs consolidate to a single CEO. Scott Farquhar, the Atlassian (TEAM) Co-Founder, Co-Chief Executive Officer and director, announced that he will step down from his role as Co-Chief Executive Officer, effective as of August 31, 2024. Mike Cannon-Brookes, the company’s other Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer will become sole CEO.  Arena Group (AREN), down 83% over the past year and plagued with issues (e.g. fake AI-based writers, missed payments to partners) hopes that insider Sara Silverstein is the right person to turn the ship around. Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) is also looks to jump start things by appointing their COO Timothy Cofer to the CEO role. Prior to yesterday when the news was announced alongside positive earnings, KDP was down approximately -10% over the past year.

Check below for all the week’s other notable CEO and CFO changes.

ACTIVISM UPDATE

LATEST COOPERATION AGREEMENTS

TARGET 1-Year TSR ACTIVIST SUMMARY FILING DATE STOCK CHANGE DAYS SINCE
FREYR BATTERY INC (FREY) -78.6%  Teknovekst Invest AS
  • FREYR Battery adds Tore Ivar Slettemoen to the board
View Filing 2024-04-18 -6.5% 8
MEREO BIOPHARMA GROUP PLC (MREO) 170.2% Rubric Capital Management
  • Extends existing cooperation agreement with Rubric Capital Management until 2025 AGM
  • Justin Roberts is Rubric’s representative on the board
View Filing 2024-04-15 5.2% 11

 

NOTABLE 13D ACTIVIST FILINGS

Quick Link: See last week’s 13D filings update

FILED TICKER COMPANY FILED BY OWNERSHIP 1-Year TSR SUMMARY FILING
2024-04-25 CEAD CEA INDUSTRIES INC Tunick Brian 7.40 -5.4% summary 2024-04-25 – SC 13D
2024-04-22 VCSA VACASA INC DAVIDSON KEMPNER CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LP 9.43 -55.3% summary 2024-04-22 – SC 13D
2024-04-19 LEE LEE ENTERPRISES INC GAMCO INVESTORS, INC. ET AL 2.76 6.3% summary 2024-04-19 – SC 13D
2024-04-19 TAST CARROLS RESTAURANT GROUP INC GAMCO INVESTORS, INC. ET AL 3.27 150.9% summary 2024-04-19 – SC 13D
2024-04-19 VAC MARRIOTT VACATIONS WORLDWIDE CORP Impactive Capital LP 7.40 -25.5% summary 2024-04-19 – SC 13D

 

2024 PROXY CONTEST RESULTS

TICKER COMPANY ACTIVIST MEETING DATE SUMMARY
SCOR COMSCORE INC 180 Degree Capital N/A RESULT SUMMARY

  • Comscore agreed to place Matthew F. McLaughlin in their proxy thereby negating a need for 180 Degree Capital to run a proxy fight
  • 180 Degree Capital also agreed not to propose a declassification of the Comscore board.
M MACY’S INC Arkhouse Management May 17, 2024 RESULT SUMMARY

  • Macy’s and Arkhouse entered a cooperation agreement before the shareholder meeting resulting in (a) Arkhouse selected directors joining the board and an uncontested proxy (see the Macy’s proxy statement)
  • Richard Clark and Richard L. Markee were appointed to the board according to an April 10, 2024 cooperation agreement
  • Clark and Markee also join the finance committee of the board
  • The Board has delegated to the Finance Committee oversight of the evaluation, review and consideration of Arkhouse and Brigade Capital Management, LP’s non-binding proposal to acquire the Company

FIGHT SUMMARY

  • Arkhouse had partnered with Brigade Capital to make a $5.8 billion takeover offer for Macy’s, which was subsequently rejected by the retailer. Arkhouse and Brigade subsuquently increased the bid from $21 per share to $24 per share.
  • Given Macy’s (M) resistance, the investors have launched a proxy contest and nominated nine director candidates
  • Macy’s new CEO, Tony Spring, started on February 4th, 2024 after heading Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury
DIS WALT DISNEY CO Trian / Nelson Peltz
Blackwell’s
April 3, 2024 RESULT SUMMARY: DISNEY / IGER PREVAIL

  • Walt Disney and Bob Iger prevailed against both Trian / Nelson Peltz and Blackwell’s
  • We’re still waiting on the 8-K 5.07 with full vote tallies, but Disney released a PR stating all twelve of their nominees were re-elected
  • Disney closed down 2.6% for the week after the Wednesday day vote

Proxy Contest Summary Notes

  • Trian owned ~$3 billion in DIS shares.
  • Trian and Nelson Peltz are campaigning for 2 board seats, one for Mr. Peltz and one for former CFO of Disney James A. Rasulo.
  • Trian and Peltz also have the backing of Ike Perlmutter, a former Disney employee that is one of the largest independent shareholders. Perlmutter had previously agitated for Peltz to be given a board seat in 2022.
  • Trian launched an initial proxy battle in 2022 where he advocated for cutting costs, fixing the streaming business, and get executive succession right. He ended that fight early after Disney announced a restructuring that included over $5.5 billions in cuts.
  • Trian has a site dedicated to the campaign called Restore The Magic
  • Blackwell’s also believes that Disney could unlock more value.
  • Blackwell’s is against Trian / Peltz receiving any board membership.
  • Blackwell’s only own’s approximately $15 million of DIS shares.
  • Blackwell’s released a video making their case against Trian here and their own site, The Future of Disney.
  • On February 29th, nine of Walt Disney’s grandchildren — including Abigail Disney and Roy Disney — put their weight behind Bob Iger and the current board. They forcefully rejected the idea that Trian and Nelson Peltz joining the board would be a positive for the company.
ELAN ELANCO ANIMAL HEALTH INC Ancora N/A RESULT

  • Elanco (ELAN) and Ancora entered into a cooperation agreement (see above)

Proxy Fight Summary

  • Ancora has built a $250 million position in Elanco
  • They believe Elanco’s “biggest barriers to success are the Company’s insular Board and unaccountable CEO.”
  • Elanco’s board is staggered (a governance red flag at all times)
  • Ancora argues that over any longer-term horizon, management has delivered negative shareholder return and, only when the market realized Ancora had become material investors and may create change, has the stock price begun to rise.
  • Ancora is pushing for 4 board seats for: Kathy Turner, Craig Wallace, James Chadwick, and Andrew Clarke.
MRC MRC GLOBAL INC ENGINE CAPITAL N/A RESULT

  • MRC (MRC) and Engine Capital entered into a cooperation agreement (see above)

Proxy Fight Summary

  • Nominating two directors to the board: Brad Favreau and Daniel Silvers
  • Engine Capital believes that MRC is significantly underperforming, especially relative to DNOW Inc.
  • Engine Capital believes that MRC’s inability to settle it’s ongoing dispute with Cornell Capital is preventing MRC from optimizing capital structure
  • Engine Capital believes that MRC’s M&A strategy is flawed and that CEO Rob Saltiel does not have a successful track record in acquisitions or integrations
SBUX STARBUCKS CORP Strategic Organizing Center (SOC) March 15, 2024 Vote Results – MARCH 15, 2024

  • All SBUX directors were re-elected
  • The board received an average of 95.7% support
  • Mellody Hobson (90.1% FOR) and Jørgen Vig Knudstorp (90.3% FOR) received the lowest support
  • Ritch Allison (93.3% FOR), Andy Campion (95.7% FOR) and Jørgen Vig Knudstorp (90.3% FOR) were the “opposed” directors
  • So, while the support is definitely lower than typical, it remained relatively high and most shareholders were unswayed by SOC’s push

Proxy Fight Summary

  • The Strategic Organizing Center (SOC), a coalition of unions, believes that Starbucks has implemented a flawed human capital management strategy in response to a prolonged union movement.
  • Union Dispute: Baristas at almost 400 Starbucks-owned cafes have voted for organizing since late 2021, with the first successful unionization taking place in Buffalo. The unionization movement, primarily led by younger workers and intensified under former CEO Howard Schultz’s leadership, saw Schultz return as the union fight escalated before his departure last year, replaced by Laxman Narasimhan.
  • The SOC seeks to replace three current Starbucks board members with its nominees.
  • Starbucks defends its board, highlighting their expertise in driving current operations and future success. The company emphasizes its commitment to employees, citing investments in wage increases, training, and equipment. However, contract negotiations remain unresolved despite Starbucks’ expressed intent to resume talks in January.
  • Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has recommended shareholders vote in favor of all Starbucks board nominees
WH WYNDHAM HOTELS & RESORTS INC CHOICE HOTELS INTERNATIONAL INC N/A RESULT

March 11, 2024 — Choice abandons it’s takeover effort and proxy contest

BACKGROUND

 

LATEST PROXY CONTEST FILINGS

TICKER COMPANY LATEST PROXY SUMMARY FILED BY FILINGS
AHT ASHFORD HOSPITALITY TRUST INC 2024-04-09 – PREC14A
  • Blackewell’s asking shareholders to vote against Monty J. Bennett, Amish Gupta, J. Robison Hays, III, Kamal Jafarnia, David W. Johnson, Frederick J. Kleisner, Sheri L. Pantermuehl, Davinder “Sonny” Sra and Alan L. Tallis
  • Blackwell’s believes that Chair Monty Bennett is “largely responsible for the overall lack of accountability at Ashford Trust given the Company’s persistent underperformance”
  • Blackwell’s is not proposing an alternative slate of directors
  • Because it is “uncontested” by definition, incumbent directors that do not receive the affirmative vote of a majority of shareholders must resign according to AHT policy
Blackwells Capital LLC 2024-04-09 – PREC14A
BHR BRAEMAR HOTELS & RESORTS INC 2024-04-11 – PREC14A
  • Nominating four directors: Michael Cricenti, Jennifer M. Hill, Betsy L. McCoy and Steven J. Pully
  • Proposal to remove “overreaching” advance notice bylaw provision
  • Proposal to urge the Board to amend the Bylaws to preclude any current or former employee, director, officer, or control person of the Corporation or Ashford (as defined in the Proxy Statement) and Ashford’s affiliates from serving as the Corporation’s chairman of the Board
  • Proposal to require the Board to disclose all extraordinary transaction proposals made by stockholders, affiliates and third parties during the two most recently completed calendar years and the terms of those proposed transactions
  • Proposal to require the Board to disclose all compensation paid by the Corporation to members of the Bennett family, The Dallas Express and employees, directors or agents of The Dallas Express, including Louis Darrouzet
BRAEMAR HOTELS & RESORTS INC 2024-04-23 – DEFA14A
2024-04-11 – DEFA14A
2024-04-11 – DEFA14A
2024-04-11 – PREC14A
2024-04-02 – PREC14A
Blackwells Capital LLC 2024-04-15 – DFAN14A
2024-04-12 – DFAN14A
2024-04-10 – DFAN14A
2024-04-10 – DFAN14A
CCI CROWN CASTLE INC 2024-04-11 – DEFC14A  

  • Crown Castle Inc. is facing a proxy battle initiated by its co-founder, Ted B. Miller, and his investment vehicle.
  • Ted B. Miller criticized the Board’s actions, asserting that they wasted shareholder resources during a period of significant value destruction.
  • Boots Capital called for immediate change, advocating for new independent directors and a fresh start.
  • Miller points to Crown Castle’s board rewriting its cooperation agreement with Elliott Management as an admission that the initial process was tainted.
  • The rewritten agreement still did not require Elliott to maintain an equity position in the company.
  • Miller has filed a lawsuit to invalidate Crown Castle’s cooperation agreement with Elliott.
CROWN CASTLE INC 2024-04-25 – DEFA14A
2024-04-24 – DEFA14A
2024-04-22 – DEFA14A
2024-04-19 – DEFA14A
2024-04-19 – DEFA14A
2024-04-19 – DEFA14A
2024-04-15 – DEFA14A
2024-04-15 – DEFA14A
Boots Parallel 1, LP 2024-04-23 – DFAN14A
2024-04-22 – DFAN14A
2024-04-22 – DFAN14A
2024-04-22 – DFAN14A
2024-04-19 – PRRN14A
2024-04-16 – PRRN14A
2024-04-16 – DFAN14A
EAF GRAFTECH INTERNATIONAL LTD 2024-04-02 – DEFC14A
  • Undavia Group seeking to get Nilesh Undavia elected to the board
  • Undavia Group contends the board / company have made “egregious” mistakes including:
    • Failing to identify and appoint stable executive leadership as the Company has endured three different CEOs since 2019;
    • Failing to create and execute a comprehensive strategy to repair customer relationships damaged by the imposition and enforcement of long-term purchase agreements on the customer base amid the peak pricing environment of 2017-2018;
    • Mismanaging environmental risk along with the associated regulatory compliance and government relations resulting in a temporary suspension of one of the Company’s primary operating facilities in Mexico, which significantly impacted production and sales in 2023;
    • Failing to develop a CEO succession plan, which resulted in the search for a CEO for six months, only to appoint the former CFO as the CEO in March 2024; and
    • Rewarding directors by increasing their pay despite poor financial and share price performance.
GRAFTECH INTERNATIONAL LTD 2024-04-18 – DEFA14A
2024-04-17 – DEFA14A
Undavia Nilesh 2024-04-23 – DFAN14A
2024-04-22 – DFAN14A
2024-04-15 – DFAN14A
GNK GENCO SHIPPING & TRADING LTD 2024-04-17 – DEFC14A
  • GK Investor / George Economou has provided notice that it is nominating 2 directors: Randee Day and Robert M. Pons
  • George Economou: “As a significant Genco shareholder, I strongly believe in the Company’s potential to deliver improved value for shareholders. Both Randee and Robert have highly relevant backgrounds that would, in my view, be additive in the boardroom and would help address Genco’s lagging performance. I believe the entire Board would benefit from their fresh perspectives and collective knowledge of the maritime and technology sectors and experience in finance, corporate strategy and governance.”
GENCO SHIPPING & TRADING LTD 2024-04-24 – DEFA14A
2024-04-22 – DEFA14A
2024-04-18 – DEFA14A
2024-04-17 – DEFA14A
2024-04-16 – DEFC14A
2024-04-16 – DEFA14A
GK Investor LLC 2024-04-18 – DFAN14A
2024-04-17 – DEFC14A
2024-04-15 – PRRN14A
2024-04-08 – PREC14A
HCC WARRIOR MET COAL INC 2024-03-14 – DEFC14A
  • The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations and United Mine Workers of America are jointly working to run a proxy fight against Warrior Met Coal
  • Proposal 1: Adopt a “poison pill” bylaw provision to require that any rights plan be submitted to a shareholder vote within one year of being adopted, extended or renewed by the Board of Directors.
  • Proposal 2: Adopt a “proxy access” bylaw provision to require that the Company include shareholder-nominated candidates in the Company’s proxy materials for up to 20 percent of the seats on the Board of Directors so long as the nominating stockholder (or a group of up to 20 stockholders) has beneficially owned at least 3 percent of Company’s outstanding shares continuously for at least three years.
  • Proposal 3: Adopt a “blank check” preferred stock amendment to the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation to prohibit the issuance of preferred stock without prior stockholder approval for any defensive or anti-takeover purpose or for the purpose of implementing any rights plan that has not been approved by stockholders within one year of adoption.
  • Proposal 4: Adopt a “golden parachute” severance agreement policy to require that all adopted, extended or renewed severance agreements with the Company’s senior executives be submitted for stockholder approval.
  • Proposal 5: Commission and oversee an independent, third-party assessment of the Company’s respect for the internationally recognized human rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining.
WARRIOR MET COAL INC 2024-04-15 – DFAN14A
2024-04-11 – DEFA14A
2024-04-11 – DEFA14A
American Federation of Labor Congress of Industrial Organizations 2024-04-15 – DFAN14A
2024-03-26 – DFAN14A2024-03-18 – PRRN14A
MASI MASIMO CORP 2023-05-24 – DEFC14A
  • Politan Capital, owning ~9% of MASI, has nominated two directors to the board of Masimo
  • Politan Capital previously won two board seats at last year’s shareholder meeting
  • Politan has nominated William Jellison, former CFO of Stryker and Darlene Solomon, former CTO of Agilent Technologies
  • Politan paints a picture (see their filings) of MASI being uncooperative and freezing their board members out
  • Masimo (see their filings) refutes Politan’s claims
MASIMO CORP 2024-04-15 – DFAN14A
2024-04-02 – DEFA14A
2024-04-01 – DEFA14A
Politan Capital Management LP 2024-03-25 – DFAN14A
MFIN MEDALLION FINANCIAL CORP 2024-04-18 – PREC14A
  • ZimCal looking to add Stephen Hodges and Judd Deppisch to the board
  • ZimCal flags long-term underperformance with Medallion down 40% over the last 10 years and heightened near-term risk from subprime exposure
  • ZimCal has published a site supporting its case at: https://restoretheshine.com/
MEDALLION FINANCIAL CORP 2024-04-18 – PREC14A
ZimCal Asset Management, LLC 2024-04-18 – PREC14A
2024-04-12 – DFAN14A
2024-04-11 – DFAN14A
2024-04-10 – PREC14A
NSC NORFOLK SOUTHERN CORP 2024-03-26 – DEFC14A  

  • Norfolk Southern (NSC) has tried to fight back by “proactively” looking to refresh the board with two new directors: Richard Anderson, the former chief executive of Amtrak and Delta Airlines and former U.S. sentaor Mary Kathryn “Heidi” Heitkamp.
  • Ancora sent a scathing open letter to Chairwoman Amy Miles regarding CEO Shaw’s executive compensation increase.
  • WSJ has a good summary of the fight here.

Activist / Ancora Summary

  • Nominating 8 new directors to the board.
  • Believes that CEO Alan Shaw must go.
  • Wants to replace top executives and put Jim Barber Jr, former UPS COO, as CEO and Jamie Boychuck as COO.
NORFOLK SOUTHERN CORP 2024-04-25 – DEFA14A
2024-04-25 – DEFA14A
2024-04-23 – DEFA14A
2024-04-19 – DEFA14A
2024-04-19 – DEFA14A
2024-04-19 – DEFA14A
2024-04-19 – DEFA14A
2024-04-19 – DEFA14A
Ancora 2024-04-25 – DFAN14A
2024-04-24 – DFAN14A
2024-04-22 – DFAN14A
2024-04-22 – DFAN14A
2024-04-19 – DFAN14A
2024-04-15 – DFAN14A
SBOW SILVERBOW RESOURCES INC 2024-04-10 – DEFC14A
  • SilverBow Resources has rejected multiple offers, over the past two years, by Kimmeridge Energy Management — the latest offer valued SBW at $2.1 billion
  • SilverBow believes the offer substantially undervalues the company
  • Kimmeridge holds a 12.9% stake in SilverBow, along with Riposte Capital, the second-largest shareholder
  • Kimmeridge is also attempting to get 3 directors onto the board
  • SilverBow has rejected the three nominees citing concerns over their independence and representation of all shareholders’ interests
SILVERBOW RESOURCES INC 2024-04-22 – DEFA14A
2024-04-10 – DEFA14A
2024-04-09 – DEFC14A
2024-04-09 – DEFA14A
Kimmeridge Energy Management Company, LLC 2024-04-16 – DFAN14A
2024-04-11 – DFAN14A
2024-04-11 – DFAN14A
2024-04-10 – DEFC14A
2024-04-09 – PRRN14A
SPRU SPRUCE POWER HOLDING CORP 2024-04-17 – PREC14A
  • Clayton Partners, JSCC Family Trust, and Jason Stankowski are contesting the proxy
  • Clayton is nominating Jason Stankowski and Clara Nagy McBane to the board
  • Clayton believes the company is not being managed to the benefit of its shareholders — believes “Spruce is, at worst, a break-even business and has significant opportunities for positive cash flow generation going forward”
  • Clayton disagrees with the company not buying back any stock despite trading at a 25% discount to the estimated value of the stock
Clayton Partners LLC 2024-04-18 – DFAN14A
2024-04-17 – PREC14A
WSR WHITESTONE REIT 2024-04-05 – DEFC14A Erez REIT Opportunities LP 2024-04-24 – DEFA14A
2024-04-24 – DEFA14A
2024-04-05 – DEFA14A
2024-04-04 – DEFC14A
2024-04-02 – PRRN14A
2024-03-19 – PREC14A
WHITESTONE REIT 2024-04-23 – DFAN14A
2024-04-22 – DFAN14A
2024-04-22 – DFAN14A
2024-04-09 – DFAN14A
2024-04-05 – DEFC14A
2024-04-02 – PRRN14A
WT WISDOMTREE INC 2024-04-19 – PREC14A
  • ETFS Capital owns approximately 10% of Wisdom Tree (WT) and believes “immediate action to unlock significant value for all stockholders and halt further value destruction.”
  • Puts a focus on WT’s strategy of transitioning to a decentralized finance (DeFi) business and believes that it resulted in poor management of the core, profitable ETF business.
  • Believes the company’s true value lies in its ETF business, which suffers from poor profitability despite record assets under management.
  • Believes its attempts to be collaborative have been met with ” a public and bafflingly hostile response.”
  • Seeking
WISDOMTREE INC 2024-04-19 – PREC14A
ETFS Capital Limited. 2024-04-18 – DFAN14A
2024-04-17 – PREC14A
XPER XPERI INC 2024-04-17 – DEFC14A
  • Rubric Capital opposes 2 of the 5 directors up for re-election: Deborah S. Conrad and Thomas A. Lacey
  • Rubric filed their first 13 D on January 23, 2024
  • Rubric sent XPER board a letter on January 22, 2024 nominating their directors
  • Xperi began trading as a separate company on Oct 1, 2022 after spinning out of Xperi Holding (no named Adeia Inc)
  • Xperi is down nearly 30% since the spin-off
  • Xperi has an elevated Boadroom Alpha Activist Vulnerability Score and C- average board rating
  • CEO Kirchner was paid $9.9M in 2022 despite the significant shareholder losses
  • Xperi powers the next generation of smart devices, automobiles and entertainment experiences of all kinds
Rubric Capital Management LP 2024-04-17 – DFAN14A
2024-04-17 – DEFC14A
XPERI INC 2024-04-17 – DEFC14A
2024-04-17 – DEFA14A

 

CEO & CFO MOVES

COMPANY MARKET CAP / TSR ROLE LEAVING JOINING JOINER BIOGRAPHY
374WATER INC (SCWO)  Mkt Cap: $181.8M
1-Yr TSR: -52.8%
CEO Jeffrey Mark Quick
.6 yrs *interim; ; -26.5% TSR
Chris M Gannon Gannon brings extensive experience in scaling companies and deep expertise in capital markets and engineering. As the former President and CEO of Energy Recovery, Inc. (NASDAQ: ERII), he spearheaded the company’s rapid growth in the core water business and its expansion into the wastewater and refrigeration markets. His leadership saw a quadruple increase in market capitalization and a tripl…read full bio
ALTERNUS CLEAN ENERGY INC (ALCE)  Mkt Cap: $26.4M
1-Yr TSR: -96.8%
CFO Joseph Emil Duey
.3 yrs
Vincent Browne
(interim)
Vincent Browne, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Vincent Browne is our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Brown brings a wealth of experience with his extensive background of over 20 years in senior and c-suite level management in the areas of finance and operations, including M&A, project finance and capital market transactions across listed and private companies. From 2017 to present…read full bio
ARENA GROUP HOLDINGS INC (AREN)  Mkt Cap: $21.7M
1-Yr TSR: -83.2%
CEO Cavitt Randall
.2 yrs
Sara Silverstein  Ms. Silverstein previously served as General Manager – Finance Arena of the Company since November 2021. Prior to that, she was Executive Editor at Business Insider from 2013 to 2020. Ms. Silverstein started her career at a hedge fund and has been working in the media industry for the past 14 years, including other positions with Bloomberg Media. Ms. Silverstein has a bachelor’s …read full bio
ATLASSIAN CORP (TEAM)  Mkt Cap: $51.5B
1-Yr TSR: 28.2%
CEO Scott Farquhar
1.9 yrs
Consolidating to single CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes, the company’s other Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer will become sole CEO.
BEACON ROOFING SUPPLY INC (BECN)  Mkt Cap: $6.2B
1-Yr TSR: 62.4%
CFO Carmelo Carrubba
.3 yrs *interim;
Prithvi Gandhi Mr. Gandhi has served as the Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer of TAMKO Building Products LLC, a national building products manufacturer and supplier, since August 2022. Mr. Gandhi previously served as the Chief Financial Officer of Fast Radius, Inc. (previously NASDAQ: FSRD), a cloud manufacturing and digital supply chain company, from August 2021 to July 2022. Prior to joinin…read full bio
CNH INDUSTRIAL NV (CNHI)  Mkt Cap: $18.5B
1-Yr TSR: -19.4%
CEO Scott W Wine
3.5 yrs ; 8.1% TSR
Gerrit A Marx Gerrit Marx has more than 20 years of experience in roles of increasing importance in different locations around the world and in a variety of industrial segments, with a specific in-depth focus on automotive industries. He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering (“Diplom Ingenieur”) and an MBA (“Diplom Kaufmann”) from RWTH Aachen University, and a Doctorate in B…read full bio
DAVE & BUSTER’S ENTERTAINMENT INC (PLAY)  Mkt Cap: $2.1B
1-Yr TSR: 51.4%
CFO Michael Quartieri
2.4 yrs ; 24.3% TSR
Darin E. Harper Mr. Harper previously served as CFO of World Choice Investments, LLC, a leading operator of large, themed family entertainment attractions from May 2023 to present. He was previously with the Company from June 2022 through December 2022 in an executive role following the acquisition of Main Event Entertainment, Inc. (“Main Event”) by the Company in June 2022. Prior to that, he was EVP, Chief Finan…read full bio
FORWARD AIR CORP (FWRD)  Mkt Cap: $607.6M
1-Yr TSR: -78.9%
CEO Michael L Hance
.2 yrs *interim;
Shawn Stewart Mr. Stewart, age 50, previously served as President and Managing Director, North America at CEVA Logistics, a global end-to-end logistics company, from April 2020 to March 2024. Prior to being named President and Managing Director, North America, Mr. Stewart held numerous leadership positions of increasing responsibility at CEVA Logistics since joining its predecessor, EGL, Inc., in 1995, includin…read full bio
INSULET CORP (PODD)  Mkt Cap: $11.5B
1-Yr TSR: -48.5%
CFO Lauren Budden
.5 yrs *interim; ; -2.3% TSR
Ana Maria Chadwick Ms. Chadwick, 52, has served as Executive Vice President and CFO of Pitney Bowes Inc. since January 2021. From 2001 to 2021, she served in a variety of leadership positions at GE Capital. Most recently, from 2019 to 2021, Ms. Chadwick was President and CEO of GE Capital Global Legacy Solutions, where, from 2016 to 2019, she served as CFO and Chief Operating Officer. From 2014 to 2016, she was Cont…read full bio
KEURIG DR PEPPER INC (KDP)  Mkt Cap: $45.9B
1-Yr TSR: -3.0%
CEO Robert James Gamgort
1.4 yrs ; -10.6% TSR
Timothy P Cofer Mr. Cofer, 55, joined the Company in November 2023 as Chief Operating Officer. Before joining the Company, he served as the Chief Executive Officer of Central Garden & Pet, a public company in the pet and garden industries. Previously, he served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Growth Officer of Mondelēz International from 2016 to 2019, where he led the company’s consumer- and c…read full bio
MANNKIND CORP (MNKD)  Mkt Cap: $1.1B
1-Yr TSR: 5.6%
CFO Steven B Binder
6.8 yrs ; 16.5% TSR
Christopher B Prentiss Christopher Prentiss has been appointed as our Chief Financial Officer, effective April 22, 2024. Since September 2022, Mr. Prentiss served as Chief Financial Officer of ADARx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held clinical-stage biotechnology company. Between April 2015 and November 2021, he held a series of finance positions of increasing responsibility at the commercial-stage biotech company A…read full bio
NORDSON CORP (NDSN)  Mkt Cap: $14.9B
1-Yr TSR: 20.3%
CFO Stephen F Shamrock
.5 yrs *interim; ; 22.3% TSR
Daniel Roy Hopgood Since 2012, Mr. Hopgood has had roles of increasing responsibility at Eaton Corporation (NYSE: ETN), a multinational power management company. Since 2021, he served as Eaton’s controller and chief accounting officer where he led the global accounting and reporting, as well as developing and executing Eaton’s global financial strategy. From 2017-2021, he served as senior vice president,…read full bio
TACTILE SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY INC (TCMD)  Mkt Cap: $336.8M
1-Yr TSR: -21.3%
CEO Daniel L Reuvers
4.0 yrs ; -26.3% TSR
Sheri Louise Dodd Sheri Dodd Age: 55 Tactile Director Since: January 2021 Committees: * Compensation and Organization Committee * Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Ms. Dodd currently serves as Vice President and General Manager at Medtronic plc, leading the Medtronic Care Management Services’ remote patient monitoring business. She joined Medtronic in March 2010 and has served in Vice President positi…read full bio
VELO3D INC (VLD)  Mkt Cap: $61.0M
1-Yr TSR: -89.4%
CFO Bernard Chung
.6 yrs ; -77.3% TSR
Mr. Hull Xu  Mr. Xu, age 50, served as Chief Financial Officer at Cepton, Inc., a provider of lidar-based solutions for automotive and other applications (“Cepton”), from April 2022 to January 2024, and VP of Finance and Strategy at Cepton Technologies, Inc., Cepton’s predecessor, from January 2021 to April 2022. Prior to Cepton, Mr. Xu served as a director at RBC Capital Markets, LLC f…read full bio

Recent Analysis

Daily SPAC Update – February 12, 2025

Nabors Energy Transition II (NETD) Deal Announced with e2Companies. Atherium (GMFI) Extension Vote. Global Star (GLST) Fixes Trust Mistake. FTAC Emerald (FLDD) Deal Vote Delayed to Feb 13.

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