Callouts & quotes from 2,101+ activist slides

"Based on CEO Locke's choice of words on the Q1 2021 earnings call, we are concerned by his lack of conviction to achieve profitability on the NFL deal."

"To make matters worse, we believe the CEO may have insulted the homebuilding industry by referring to them as "land developers" interested in flipping."

"First, the Board must work with Darden’s management team to unify the strategic plan going forward while completing the CEO search as soon as possible."

"First, the Board must work with Darden’s management team to unify the strategic plan going forward while completing the CEO search as soon as possible."

"Our proposal is not intended to be a vote of no-confidence in CEO Larry Fink, but simply aims to address the lack of independent oversight by the Board"

"Phillips 66's (NYSE: PSX) CEOs reaped an eye-popping $140M from 2020-2024—despite ongoing stock and operating underperformance and missed cost targets."

"Phillips 66's misleading claims of success on its 2022 targets echo the Board's and previous CEO's failure to hit the AdvantEdge66 cost savings target."

"This is an outright “green fraud” that has brought FleetCor to their Philidor moment and should lead to the immediate resignation of CEO Ronald Clarke."

""We've shipped so much of our fall/winter order book earlier, which naturally means less shipments in the next quarter." — Dani Reiss, Canada Goose CEO"

"We are not going to run for EBITDA per ton, we're going to run for total EBITDA out of this business. — Roy Harvey, CEO, Alcoa Corp., February 28, 2017"

"When they opt out, we don't create alternative accurate and persistent identifiers, typically called device fingerprints. — Adam Foroughi, AppLovin CEO"

"I have tens of thousands of people selling with us around the market today at -- with the Microsoft Azure team. — CEO Siebel, Needham Conf Jan 11, 2022"

"In June 2018, SOCFIN CEO and (still current) Bolloré SA director Hubert Fabri was found guilty in the Criminal Court of Brussels of active corruption."

""but the way we looked at it was, as I said earlier, this is a brand-new category that's starting to form up now." — CEO FLAWLESS Deal Call March 2019"

"According to Glassdoor, PPG's CEO approval rating currently stands at 61%, more than 20 percentage points lower than the peer average — Trian Partners"

"Perlman was CEO of Ceridian during a period it was charged with manipulating earnings by improperly capitalizing $100m of software development costs."

"Why does the CEO not explicitly tell investors what services he is providing that are above and beyond the normal scope of his duties to the Company?"

"Last week, Alibaba Group's CEO, Jack Ma, provided a gross merchandise value target across Taobao Mall and Taobao Marketplaces of $157 billion in 2012"

"Despite delivering the worst operating performance in the industry and (5.1%) TSR over his CEO tenure, Mr. Shaw has been paid more than $23 million."

"“Now I'd like to turn the call over to Viacom's CEO, my great, great friend, the wisest man I have ever known, Philippe Dauman...” — Sumner Redstone"

""the cost of cloud storage, we are trying to monetize carefully because of cost." — CEO of Perion Network Ltd. at the Needham conference on May 17th"

"“if volumes were not maintained, they would not offer more cassettes for purchase.” — Congressman Paul Gosar letter to TransMedics CEO, Feb 21, 2024"

"A ratio below 100% does not signal strength and we do not believe investors should buy into the praise showered on WSP's M&A discipline by the CEO."

"AOL's CEO and CFO total cash compensation as a percentage of EBITDA of 1.7% is significantly higher than the Independent Peer Group median of 1.0%."

"That is the automatic reaction of a CEO when an attack is launched and the share price goes down, that is quite normal. — Shareholder at Ströer AGM"

"Since becoming CEO, Dr. Klaus Kleinfeld has underperformed the Company's own self-selected proxy peer median by 156% and the S&P 500 Index by 150%"

"Engine has initiated a search for a CEO who possesses the following characteristics and has the capability to execute on the following priorities:"

""So I think we've had a historical preference to grow EPS 10%, and I don't think we're walking away from that." — Michael McGarry, CEO, 10/19/2017"

"I am committed to helping Phillips 66 reach its full potential... — Energy veteran Greg Goff, former Andeavor CEO and Phillips 66 investor, 4/9/25"

"We believe this is all very achievable, and that in fact, the interim CEOs are setting a low bar for a new incoming CEO to show success early on."

"We believe the Board's ineffectiveness may be in part due to the unchecked power of the founder, Rob LoCascio, who serves as CEO and Board Chair."

"We question the value of an acquired asset when half the founders have left the Company and the Co-CEO maintains his “day job” as a veterinarian."

"GreenPower’s major commercial relationship is with Green Commuter, a Southern California-based vanpool operator run by its CEO, Gustavo Ochiuzzo."

"Incumbent Board’s complete failure to hold CEO accountable led to a compensation scheme that is insulting to Campbell employees and shareholders"

"the limited authority conferred to the LID by BlackRock’s Board, confirms the lack of commitment to an effective counterbalance to the Chair/CEO"

"the limited authority conferred to the LID by BlackRock's Board, confirms the lack of commitment to an effective counterbalance to the Chair/CEO"

"In 2020, BlackRock pledged “exiting investments that present a high sustainability-related risk, such as thermal coal producers” — CEO Mr. Fink."

"With CEO Dominik Richter likely having faced multiple margin calls on his pledged shares, he has a clear incentive to prevent further declines."

"In the coming year, there will be almost 300 million in output volume for orders from Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo and Coolpad. — Lin (CEO of NQ Mobile)"

""SK Foods Former and CEO Scott Salyer Pleads Guilty to Racketeering and Price Fixing in California," — US Department of Justice, March 23, 2012"

"And our model and our track record has been to acquire. We've done 25-plus deals in the last 6 or 7 years. — CEO Delia, Citigroup Conf Dec 2019"

"“monster that’s lurking” and that “with enough cycles it will just burst out” like “that monster in Alien in the ’80’s....” — QuantumScape CEO"

"In BK's 11/14/11 Investor Day, CEO Gerald Hassell provided a roadmap for 7 – 11% EPS growth between 2011 and 2014 — Marcato Capital Management"

"To exacerbate this, AMT CEO Jim Taiclet sells approximately 90% of the shares he receives from option exercises, as shown in the table below."

"Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) CEO Mark Lashier ranked last in effectiveness relative to his peers in a recent survey of institutional shareholders."

"Evidence in the captured data indicates that APP’s CEO and CTO blatantly lied and misled investors about APP’s use of persistent identifiers."

"Centers are now forced to use the organ procurement service and TMDX aircraft, according to the ex-employee, contradicting the CEO’s denials."

"The CEO was evasive when the analyst pressed for an answer on production capacity: "we have not announced...how much production will expand.""

""rundown strategy is the responsible strategy for both our business and for the world" — CEO Gary Nagle, Investor Update, 2nd December, 2021."

""the rocket gives you the keys to space. It's critically important, but the big revenue is doing things in space." — Firefly CEO Tom Markusic"

"Why the proposed separation of Chair/CEO at BlackRock represents also a test on the coherence and integrity of the Asset Management Industry"

"Why the proposed separation of Chair/CEO at BlackRock represents also a test on the coherence and integrity of the Asset Management Industry"

"At every chance, the CEO talks up how much Amgen loves the machine – so much so that the entire bull case seems to be that “Amgen likes it.”"

"Given management's inability to achieve its #1 most important goal, organic growth, we believe it is appropriate for the CEO & CFO to resign"

"Of course, Ban and Khuong aren't the only insiders that have been rapidly dumping their stock. CEO Tim Herbert is a habitual seller as well."

"Apparently, if you are looking to put out a press release with a penny stock that has no money, Nature's Miracle's CEO James Li is your guy."

"The worst is over for this industry. That doesn't mean that we are there and the future is rosy — Marten Pieters, MD & CEO of Vodafone India"

"Trian recommends that the Board take the following actions*: Strengthen management by immediately bringing back Chuck Bunch as Chairman/CEO"

"「TSMCがレーザーテック製の装置をどれだけうまく生産の流れに導入できているかについてはよくわかりません。しかし、......聞いているかぎり、今のところはあまりうまくいっていないようです」 — 半導体製造企業の上席幹部として長年の経験を持ち、レーザーテックのCEOに親しい人物"

"“...our biggest capital allocation mistake by yours truly” and “our biggest disappointment over the past decade.” — CEO Mitra, Q2 2025 call"