Huntsman Corporation HUN
The three reasons
- 1
Huntsman has underperformed proxy peers by 575% since its IPO
- 2
Management missed Investor Day EBITDA targets three times in a row (44%, 11%, 30% misses)
- 3
Board overpaid CEO vs peer median every year FY2016-FY2020 despite underperformance
Primary demands
- Elect Starboard's four independent director nominees (James L. Gallogly, Sandra Beach Lin, Susan C. Schnabel, Jeffrey C. Smith) at the 2022 Annual Meeting
- Hold management accountable for failed operational execution and long-term stock price underperformance
- Vote the BLUE proxy card
- Improve board composition with chemical/industrial operating experience
KPIs cited
Pattern membership
Where this document fits across the library's 12 rhetorical / structural patterns.
Notable slides (5)
Notes
Short proxy-fight letter (5 pages) accompanying Starboard's definitive proxy materials for the 2022 Huntsman annual meeting. Classic three-part attack structure: (1) stock underperformance vs peers, (2) repeatedly missed Investor Day financial promises, (3) CEO pay well above peer median despite misses. Villain is institutional (the Board) rather than a named executive — Starboard avoids naming CEO Peter Huntsman directly in the letter. 'Failed promises' framing on Investor Day targets functions similarly to CEO-quote-contradiction but uses quantitative targets instead of verbatim quotes. Letter closes with one-paragraph bios of the four BLUE-card nominees, including Starboard CEO Jeffrey C. Smith himself. Clean but text-heavy layout with three signature red/blue Starboard bar charts; not a full deck.