With a chill in the air after a spectacular August, dealmakers are back in the office and expecting a robust proxy season with cash burning holes in activists’ pockets. Also, a new feature of this newsletter: If you want to listen to this newsletter as you are shvitz-ing on a Peloton or taking an early morning walk, here’s the link.

Autumn is, of course, a fun time in New York with U.S. Open finals, Feast of San Gennaro, new restaurants, shows on Broadway, art exhibits, and Mets and Yankees trundling towards the most expensive wild card berths ever. And we will not discuss New York football (In fact, let us know if anyone wants free Jets tickets. Section 131, 8th row, two parking passes). 

While activist investors were hobnobbing out East sipping Hamptons Water and jostling for seats at Duryea’s or Lucky’s, their junior analysts were toiling away over the past month in empty air-conditioned office towers running their screens for potential activist opportunities for the Spring annual meeting season.

Recent 13F filings show that activists such as Carl Icahn (the O.G.), Dan Loeb and Elliott have taken a bunch of new stakes and could portend a busy winter. In addition, with mergers and acquisitions picking up, experts believe that activism-related mergers and acquisitions will, as well. Of course, as the Wall Street Journal notes, so have break-ups.

We spoke to our friend Josh Black, Editor-in-Chief of Diligent Market Intelligence and a longtime activist watcher. Here’s his view:  

“With strong merger and acquisition volumes over the summer and surprisingly high deal-related activist demands in August, I expect deal activism to be a strong theme over the proxy season. But life won’t be easy for dealmakers. Push-for-sale campaigns and opposition to mergers and acquisitions typically have a push-pull relationship, with oppose-sale efforts increasing shortly after activists increase agitation for transactions. History suggests opposition gains strength toward year-end, setting up a lively finish to 2025. And with push-for-sale demands historically strong right after annual results and around nomination deadlines, boards and investors alike should be prepared for another wave of deal-related battles early next year.”

Buckle up and have a great weekend,

GPP Team



Semafor: Can investors make The New York Times into the Netflix of news?

Fivespan Partners is urging the Times to deploy AI for translation tools and video production to build a larger international subscriber base. Founders Dylan Haggart and Sarah Coyne tried a gentler version of this playbook in 2022 with ValueAct, when their push to bundle products helped send Times shares soaring nearly 90%. Read More

The Wall Street Journal: Elliott Plans Major Activist Campaign at PepsiCo With $4 Billion Stake

Elliott Investment Management revealed it has built a $4 billion stake in PepsiCo. The activist is pushing PepsiCo to review its food and beverage offerings and refranchise its bottling network. Read More



Original Jurisdiction: A View From The Top Of The M&A World: David Lam

Wachtell’s David Lam, one of the country’s top M&A lawyers, discusses his career, the state of the current M&A market, and secrets to success for the firm with David Lat. Listen Here

Bloomberg: Goldman’s Ingrassia Sees Chance for Record M&A Volume in 2026

Tim Ingrassia, co-chair of global mergers and acquisitions at Goldman Sachs, noted that dealmaking could break records in 2026, potentially as high as $3.9 trillion (up from an expected $3.1 trillion in 2025), although macroeconomic uncertainty and shifting market conditions could affect things. Read More



Vanguard: Vanguard names leaders of new investment stewardship programs

Glenn Booraem and Carolyn Cross will lead separate investment stewardship teams starting in 2026, Vanguard Capital Management (VCM) and Vanguard Portfolio Management (VPM), respectively. Read More

Financial Times: US shareholders Fade from Green  

Alexandra White reports that green-related  proposals failed across a number of groups in the Russell 3000 index of US stocks, as found by a Conference Board/Esgauge report. Investor support for environmental measures fell to just 10% this year, down from 18% in 2024. Read More

HLS Forum on Corporate Governance: Are CEO Pay Plans Too Samey?

Will Arnot of DMI argues that while broad conformity in executive pay packages may be to thank for the broad support of say-on-pay campaigns (which received 89.3% investor support in 1H25), more specialized packages with closer ties to performance might be better for companies’ long-term success. Read More

Financial Times: Is the shareholder always right? It’s complicated

FT’s Lex column debates the premise that shareholders always vote in the best interests of a company. Asset managers have become so large, they argue, that in many cases a vote outcome that is detrimental to the company might actually have a positive impact on the investor’s broader portfolio. Read More



FROM OUR DESK TO YOURS

With fall calendars filling fast, we wanted to highlight a pinnacle event of the season, New York Fashion Week. From September 11 – 16, designers from around the world will have the opportunity to take risks and debut the latest collections that will shape future style trends. We also note with sympathies the passing of Giorgio Armani, a pioneering titan of fashion and muse to many women and men, who died this week at the age of 91. The FT just did a great piece with an interview just last week.

Overall, it is a time of change in the fashion world as new Creative Directors (including Gucci, Dior, Versace, Loewe, and Marni) and CEOs (including Lacoste, Puma, Prada, and Kering) begin to reshape the competitive landscape. For many of these iconic brands, NYFW offers one of the first major opportunities to showcase how they are redefining their strategy and putting a stamp on the brands’ creative direction.



Finally, in fashion media, we note the appointment of Chloe Malle as Vogue’s new Head of Editorial Content. While fashion icon Anna Wintour will still be involved as Vogue publisher Condé Nast’s Chief Content Officer, the move illustrates how much the fashion industry has evolved this year.  



PEOPLE MOVES

• KKR appointed former AWS executive Adam Selipsky as a senior technology and AI advisor, as the investment giant looks to integrate AI further into operations. Read More
• Lazard added Dmitry Shevelenko, chief business officer of AI search engine Perplexity, to its board of directors. Read More



• September 8-10: Council of Institutional Investors Fall Conference, San Francisco
• October 9: 25th Anniversary of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware, Newark, DE
• October 21: 13D Monitor Active/Passive Investor Summit, New York, NY
• October 28: Knight-Bagehot 50^th Anniversary Celebration, New York
• October 28-29: Berkeley Fall Forum on Corporate Governance, San Francisco



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