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Shareholder activism reached record levels in 2025, according to new data from Barclays’ shareholder advisory group led by Jim Rossman. The firm tracked 191 campaigns globally through the third quarter — the highest on record — driven by sustained activity in the U.S. and a surge across APAC. Japan alone accounted for 52% of non-U.S. campaigns as investors pushed companies to follow through on recently instituted corporate governance reforms and improve capital efficiency. 

In tandem with our note from last week, leadership turnover has accelerated alongside activist engagement. 25 CEOs have stepped aside following campaigns so far this year, as investors press for strategic resets at the top of targeted organizations. Activists are also fielding higher-caliber nominees in their slates: 39% of their nominees had prior experience as a public CEO or CFO, and 79% had served on a public board. The latest example came from Acadia Health, where an 8% combined stake and pressure from Engine Capital and Khrom Capital preceded the appointment of former Elanco CFO Todd Young.

Looking ahead to 2026, Barclays flagged growing uncertainty around passive giants BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard. The “Big Three,” which collectively hold about 26% of major index ownership, are restructuring their stewardship teams in a shift that could reshape engagement and outcomes in contested votes next year.

For our West Coast readers and those attending the 2025 Berkeley Fall Forum on Corporate Governance in San Francisco, Gladstone will be hosting a welcome cocktail party on Monday, October 27^th at International Smoke (Ayesha Curry’s restaurant)^. We’d love to see you there. If you’re interested in attending, please RSVP at events@gladstoneplace.com.

Have a great weekend,

GPP Team

Bloomberg: National Security Seen as Next Target for Activist Investors

This week, Bloomberg reported on a memo from law firm Cleary Gottlieb, who warned that national security, and defense firms overall, could be the next major industry in the line of sight for activist investors. The memo sighted recent interventions by the U.S. Government along with activist investor Ancora’s recent slate at U.S. Steel as examples of how this trend is already here with the law firm noting that they are advising clients to start to plan ahead before the trend expands. Read More

Barron's: Wells Fargo Faces Activist Call for Independent Board Chair

The Accountability Board, a non-profit, small activist shareholder group founded in 2022, called on Wells Fargo to restore the requirement in its bylaws to have the CEO and Board Chairman be separate positions. This comes after Wells Fargo announced in July that it was named CEO Charlie Scharf as chair of the board, a move that The Accountability Board called short-sighted and could lead to less accountability at the bank. Read More

Reuters: Fifth Third to buy Comerica in $10.9 billion deal to create ninth-largest US bank

The $10.9 billion all-stock deal between Fifth Third Bank and regional lender Comerica is set to be the biggest US bank deal of the year. Analysts have shared that consolidation is pivotal for smaller lenders to compete with banking giants, and that the transaction could usher in more mergers amidst the lighter regulatory environment. Read More

CNBC: SoftBank to buy ABB robotics unit for $5.4 billion as it boosts its AI play

The deal valued at $5.4 billion, and which is subject to regulatory approval globally, marks a major move in its push toward “Physical AI” and ending ABB’s plans to spin off the unit Read More

Financial Times: Novo Nordisk to buy US biotech Akero in $5bn push beyond obesity drugs

In an attempt to expand its drug pipeline beyond weight-loss drugs, Novo Nordisk announced the purchase of biotech Akero Therapeutics. Akero, who is working on a “potential first and best-in-class medicine” for MASH, a liver disease that is a common obesity complication, is the first acquisition under Novo’s new CEO Mike Doustdar. Read More

The New York Times: Take Two: Why Big Companies Are Naming Co-C.E.O.s

NYT unpacks the trend of Co-CEOs being appointed to replace outgoing individual CEOs, as was announced recently at Comcast, Oracle, and Spotify, and digs into the benefits and drawbacks of such arrangements. Read More

Reuters: Preparing for Shareholder Engagement in 2026

Frank Aquila of Sullivan & Cromwell reviews trends and developments from the 2025 proxy season, particularly around ESG issues, and discusses how boards can best take them into consideration in preparation for 2026. Read More

Kirkland & Ellis: Shareholder Engagement Under the New 13G Regime: Key Takeaways From Recent Society/Kirkland Panel

The Society for Corporate Governance and Kirkland & Ellis shared some key findings from a panel they cohosted last month discussing the current “state of play” in shareholder engagement, and how companies can best prepare themselves for the 2026 proxy season. Read More

IPO

The Wall Street Journal: Big Banks Woo Trump for Roles on Blockbuster IPO

Gina Heeb, Corrie Driebusch, and AnnaMaria Andriotis report that Wall Street’s biggest banks are taking unique approaches to lead roles in the Trump administration’s planned IPOs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. A potential $500 billion listing hangs in the balance. Read More

Financial Times: Permira and Blackstone tap banks for IPO of €10bn Mobile.de business

The two PE groups are eyeing a potential Frankfurt listing of Adevinta’s €10bn Germa auto marketplace Mobile.de, as the owners pursue a dual-track process to sell or float one of Europe’s largest IPO candidates in recent years. The buyout shops took Adevinta private for €14 billion in 2023. Read More

FROM OUR DESK TO YOURS

We are scratching our heads wondering why more New Yorkers have not set foot in one of the great new fining dining restaurants in New York, Saint Urban. Tucked away off of Park Avenue South on E. 20th Street across the street from iconic Gramercy Tavern, Saint Urban, originally from Syracuse, NY, is a wine-forward restaurant with multiple tasting menus and multiple ways to enjoy its 4,000-bottle cellar. 

While the trend in New York is more casual restaurants with elevated menus and wine lists, Saint Urban and its chef, Jared Stafford-Hill, have created a serene spot that is both fancy -ish and yet not stuffy or formal. The wait staff is friendly but not intrusive, and they are eager to discuss the unique approach to wine and food.

Each month, the restaurant picks a wine region and then organizes the menu around the region. In September, when we went, the region was the Southern Rhone, where we visited in June. They then put together a wine pairing to go with the menu, with quite reasonable prices. The sommelier pointed out that while most restaurants treble the prices of wine, at Saint Urban it’s more like 1.5 times the cost of the bottle.

More than just prices, they are opening up vintages you would rarely see even in great New York restaurants. We had a 2004 Chateau de Beaucastle out of a magnum as part of the wine pairing. Food was a spectacular-seven course tasting menu for under $200 pp. The wine pairing is also quite reasonable at $112 pp.

Next up in October, Cote de Nuits, the northern half of the Cote d’Or in Burgundy, and in November Piedmont in Italy. Date night!

PEOPLE MOVES

• Former PayPal CEO Dan Schulman will succeed Hans Vestberg in the chief executive role at Verizon. Read More
• Elon Musk appointed former Morgan Stanley technology banker Anthony Armstrong as the CFO of xAI. Read More
• Former Walmart U.S. CFO Steve Schmitt is appointed as PepsiCo’s Executive Vice President and CFO. Read More

• October 21: 13D Monitor Active/Passive Investor Summit, New York, NY
• October 28-29: Berkeley Fall Forum on Corporate Governance, San Francisco
• October 28: Knight-Bagehot 50^th Anniversary Celebration, New York, NY

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