Activists File 13Fs and Rush to Hamptons, ESG Under Scrutiny, While Musk Scores Rare Win in Wilmington and Foot Faults on Man U  

A number of large well-known activists showed their bets on Monday’s due date for quarterly 13Fs before settling into the Hamptons for the rest of August. Among the interesting disclosures, Elliott sold its entire stake in Twitter while Elon was buying, picked up Cardinal Health, rattled cages at Aerojet Rocketdyne and sits in waiting over Philip Morris-Swedish Match deal. ValueAct is tip-toeing around Times Square, and Dan Loeb’s Third Point re-entered the water with the Walt Disney Co. amid the company’s strong results.  

 

Meanwhile, scrutiny around ESG continues to grow. BlackRock is being targeted by 19 state AGs in a letter sent to the SEC, requesting an investigation into how the firm’s ESG investments conflict with its fiduciary duty. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has also been on the receiving end of a multimillion-dollar attack campaign by conservative Consumers’ Research for what the group views as “weaponizing" assets to support “woke” ESG investments. Of note, this intense debate is happening against the backdrop of the three-year anniversary of the Business Roundtable’s letter redefining the purpose of a corporation.

 

In Musk-Twitter world, Musk has won a tactical but perhaps ultimately not that important victory by obtaining documents from Kayvon Beykpour – the former head of Twitter’s consumer product group. Musk better hope he finds gold in these documents, as Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick rejected document requests from 21 other potential witnesses. Less than 24-hours after this development, Musk was up to his usual market manipulation as he "jokingly" tweeted about buying Manchester United sending the stock soaring, the SEC lawyers to their battle stations and his lawyers to the bar.  

 

Have a great weekend, 

GPP Team 

FEATURED ARTICLES

Wall Street Journal: Elliott Management Has Large Position in Cardinal Health 

Following the exit of CEO Mike Kaufmann last week, Joseph Walker and Cara Lombardo report that Elliott Management has a large position Cardinal Health and is seeking a number of seats on the board. Read More

Bloomberg: Elliott Takes Stake in Embattled Aerojet Rocketdyne 

Elliott Management has exited its stake in Twitter and gained a sizable one in Aerojet Rocketdyne. Scott Duveau details that following a very public proxy fight earlier this year, Aerojet can now count Elliott among its top investors, though for now, a passive one. Read More 

Reuters: Activist's Call for ESPN Spin-Off May Be a Tough Sell at Disney

Third Point’s Daniel Loeb, after taking a $1bn stake in Disney, has called on the company to spin off ESPN, which he believes will allow "the sports brand greater flexibility” to pursue other growth opportunities. Read More   

Bloomberg: ‘Hating ESG’: Advocates Are Looking to Replace the Label 

With 90% of S&P 500 companies reporting on metrics and over $40tn in assets, ESG is well entrenched in the mainstream. Experts debate the language and regulation around ESG, focusing on risk factors for business rather than politics. Read More  

Wall Street Journal: The ESG Investing Backlash Arrives 

Nineteen state attorneys general sent a letter to the SEC requesting an examination of any political ambitions BlackRock may have tied to ESG investments. Meanwhile, Strive Asset Management announced an ETF designed to mimic BlackRock’s US energy index fund. Read More

THIS WEEK AT TWITTER

Insider: Elon Musk Scores a Rare Win in Twitter-Acquisition Lawsuit as the Company is Ordered to Hand Over Documents from Fired General Manager 

Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick ruled on Monday that Twitter must hand over documents from Kayvon Beykpour, former head of Twitter’s consumer product group. Read More 

CNBC: Elon Musk Jokes About Buying Manchester United on Twitter 

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said he plans to buy Manchester United, later clarifying that the tweet was a long-running joke. CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box’ breaks down the latest Musk drama. Watch Here 

Yale’s JREG and YLBS join forces to Present: Musk He Perform? Specific Performance in Twitter v. Musk

Yale Law School’s two leading journals, Journal on Regulation and Law & Business Society, are hosting an in-person discussion with Professors Yair Listokin and Jonathan Macey on September 7, 2022 at Yale to discuss the ongoing Twitter litigation. Read More

ADDITIONAL READINGS

Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance: The Corporate Law Reckoning for SPACs 

Minor Myers, a Professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law, analyzes SPACs through a corporate law lens. His conclusion: the industry has a stunning disregard for corporate law, with conflicts of interest to public shareholders. Read More  

CNBC: Activist investor Ryan Cohen completes planned sale of Bed Bath & Beyond stake, stock falls 30% 

A filing on Thursday revealed that Ryan Cohen's RC Ventures has exited its stake in Bed Bath & Beyond earlier this week. This comes after "an abnormally high trading volume this month" in the meme stock. Read More

Reuters: Koffey's Politan Takes 9% Stake in Masimo, to Push for Change 

Politan Capital Management announced an 8.4% stake in medical device company Masimo Corp. The activist investor will push for changes to its operations and a potential shake up to the c-suite and Board. Read More

Fortune: Corporate Board Diversity Quotas Improve Gender Equity for Lower-Ranking Women in the Workforce Too 

Research has shown that requirements to increase women’s representation at the C-suite level improves outcomes for women at all levels of the company’s workforce. Read More 

WWD: Activist Bluebell Tells Richemont Shareholders to Vote for Change 

Activist investor Bluebell is refusing to give up the fight at Richemont, urging the company’s shareholders to elect Francesco Trapani to the board and to support sweeping changes to corporate governance, says WWD London Bureau Chief Samantha Conti. Read More 

FROM OUR DESK TO YOURS


It’s been quite a year for business books and docuseries. Our team of avid readers has had a close watch on the latest book roundups, from the FT’s Business Book of the Year 2022 Longlist with titles on world affairs, climate change, economics and public companies GE and Boeing, to Barack Obama’s annual Summer Reading List. Whether you’re in the office or on the beach these last few weeks of summer, there is no shortage of books to dive into. 

 

Return to Westeros. We're excited to watch HBO's new Game of Thrones prequel series 'House of the Dragon,' premiering this Sunday.  

PEOPLE MOVES


  • Mark Hoffman, CNBC’s president since 2005 and chairman since 2015, is stepping down at the end of September. He will be replaced by KC Sullivan, president and managing director of NBCUniversal’s global advertising and partnerships. Read More  

 

  • Dutch health technology company, Philips, announced CEO Frans van Houten will be stepping down and replaced by Roy Jakobs, head of the Philips’ Connected Care businesses. Read More 

 

  • Ed Cropley, Associate Editor at Breakingviews, is leaving Reuters after 25 years and will join financial and corporate communications advisor firm, Tulchan. Read More 

 

  • Tabby Kinder appointed West Coast Financial Editor of the Financial Times and will lead coverage of San Francisco’s transformation of venture capital firms. Read More 
UPCOMING EVENTS

September 12-16: Goldman Sachs Communacopia & Technology Conference

September 15, 2022: The Deal Awards 2022

September 28, 2022: CNBC Delivering Alpha

October 18, 2022: 13D Monitor Active-Passive Investor Summit

October 26, 2022: Axios BFD 

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