timetable for moves that improved profit margins. didn’t come in with a sledgehammer saying you have to do it this “They way,” says Mr. Winkleblack, then CFO. Investor T. Boone Pickens, left, greeted Gulf Oil CEO James Lee in 1983 after he bought stock in the company. Photo: GENE J. PUSKAR/ASSOCIATED PRESS was so seminal because it was a huge company to go after at that “It time,” says Chris Young, an activism-defense banker at AG . was “It operational in nature, and you got mainstream, long-only investor support. That, I think, started opening people’s minds to the art of the possible.” In 2013, to Brazilian private-equity firm 3G Capital Partners LP and ’s Inc. , then Heinz’s CEO, now is an adviser to Trian, and Mr. Winkleblack was a Trian board nominee at Co. The financial crisis that began in 2008 was a setback for many activists, who saw their funds lose billions. But ultimately it created fertile conditions for the current activism boom. In the wake of the crisis, many corporate executives took a approach, not wanting to be seen as risk-takers. They hoarded cash and avoided big spending. When interest rates dropped, they borrowed money not for expansion, but to buy back stock and increase dividends—exactly what some activists were pushing for. Critics of such moves say companies would be better off using capital on long-term investments such as infrastructure, research and employees, but activists say managers have proven poor spenders
timetable for moves that improved profit margins. “They didn’t come in with a sledgehammer saying you have to do it this way,” says Mr. Winkleblack, then CFO. Investor T. Boone Pickens, left, greeted Gulf Oil CEO James Lee in 1983 after he bought stock in the company. Photo: GENE J. PUSKAR/ASSOCIATED PRESS “It was so seminal because it was a huge company to go after at that time,” says Chris Young, an activism-defense banker at AG . “It was operational in nature, and you got mainstream, long-only investor support. That, I think, started opening people’s minds to the art of the possible.” In 2013, to Brazilian private-equity firm 3G Capital Partners LP and ’s Inc. , then Heinz’s CEO, now is an adviser to Trian, and Mr. Winkleblack was a Trian board nominee at Co. The financial crisis that began in 2008 was a setback for many activists, who saw their funds lose billions. But ultimately it created fertile conditions for the current activism boom. In the wake of the crisis, many corporate executives took a approach, not wanting to be seen as risk-takers. They hoarded cash and avoided big spending. When interest rates dropped, they borrowed money not for expansion, but to buy back stock and increase dividends—exactly what some activists were pushing for. Critics of such moves say companies would be better off using capital on long-term investments such as infrastructure, research and employees, but activists say managers have proven poor spenders
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