Contrarian Corpus
Phrase library

Callouts & quotes from 37,061+ activist slides

Every emphasised callout and every pulled quote, extracted slide-by-slide. Search by keyword, filter by slide type or by source.

Showing 1921–1980 of 37,061
quote nominee bio

"For instance, at The Procter & Gamble Company ("P&G"), a household products company where Mr. Peltz served on the board of directors from 2018 until 2022, he helped P&G develop and oversee a "Four-Year Overhaul" that resulted in P&G "making several dramatic changes to help improve performance" and "streamlin[ing] its operations from 10 business units to six, improv[ing] its earnings growth, clear[ing] out bureaucracy and increas[ing] accountability." — Source: Article titled "Peltz to Depart P&G Board, Capping Nearly Four-Year Overhaul," published August 5, 2021 by Bloomberg."

The Walt Disney Company · DIS Trian Partners · p. 81
quote ceo quote

"“I think -- well, it's inevitable that for every CEO, the success is measured through -- with total shareholder return... And the purpose of the pharma company is to bring breakthrough products that change patients' lives... So a way to measure it, for us, it is we have put out there a list of 15 potential blockbusters that could come by the year -- in 5 years, so it is by 2022 when we put it out in '18. And I think my focus would be to make sure that we deliver more than our fair risk adjustment of this number, and that will be success.” — Albert Bourla, Pfizer Chair and CEO"

Pfizer Inc. · PFE Starboard Value · p. 62
quote nominee bio

"For instance, at The Procter & Gamble Company ("P&G"), a household products company where Mr. Peltz served on the board of directors from 2018 until 2022, he helped P&G develop and oversee a "Four-Year Overhaul" that resulted in P&G "making several dramatic changes to help improve performance" and "streamlin[ing] its operations from 10 business units to six, improv[ing] its earnings growth, clear[ing] out bureaucracy and increas[ing] accountability." — Source: Article titled "Peltz to Depart P&G Board, Capping Nearly Four-Year Overhaul," published August 5, 2021 by Bloomberg."

The Walt Disney Company · DIS Trian Partners · p. 81
quote villain critique

"“I've always known that there was a generic diazoxide agent” and that if did seem to help anyone, that “then I probably going to use the generic in all of those patients... I'm probably going to switch everybody over to the generic anyway...I was willing to give the branded option a try on that first one, see what it's like, and get a little experience with it...but long-term, definitely not...why would you do that?”; “it's not like it's that hard to figure out...the "what do you do" is pretty straightforward...I would just go with generic diazoxide.” — PWS endocrinologist #9"

Soleno Therapeutics · SLNO Scorpion Capital · p. 97
quote appendix methodology

"“While, in principle, no one is liable to penalties except for their own acts, criminal liability may nevertheless arise from the acts of others in exceptional cases where certain legal obligations impose a duty to take direct action regarding the acts of an agent or subordinate; notably, in industries subject to regulations enacted in the interest of public health or safety, criminal liability essentially extends to the company's executives, to whom the conditions and manner of operation of the enterprise are personally imposed.” — Crim., Feb. 28, 1956, Bull. crim., No. 205."

Accor SA · AC Grizzly Research · p. 48
quote villain critique

"In March 2023, it was announced that our alliance with Merck KGaA to co-develop and co-commercialize Bavencio (avelumab) would terminate. Effective June 30, 2023, Merck KGaA took full control of the global commercialization of Bavencio. Beginning in the third quarter of 2023, the related profit share was replaced by a 15% royalty to Pfizer on net sales of Bavencio. Additionally, we will no longer record royalties from U.S. sales of Bavencio, as we have irrevocably chosen to donate the right to such royalties to the American Association for Cancer Research. — 2023 Pfizer 10-K"

Pfizer Inc. · PFE Starboard Value · p. 20
quote ceo quote

"Thank you for reaching out. Technically, the facility that received the SQF certificate and score was their manufacturing experts, Ballard Manufacturing. Ballard Manufacturing in Springville, UT did in fact receive a 100 on their 2015 Surveillance audit. This facility currently has registered for an audit in 2018 under edition 8.0. Therefore, you will be able to find HBH Enterprises dba Ballard Manufacturing in the public search. However, you would not find anything for PetIQ. I hope this helps! — Kathy Chiao, Marketing/Customer Service Assistant, SAFE QUALITY FOOD INSTITUTE"

PetIQ, Inc. · PETQ Spruce Point Capital · p. 90
quote other

""Trian is in the business of making good companies a lot better. Their research, analysis, and recommendations are focused on operational and strategic initiatives to build shareholder value over the long term. They ask tough, probing questions, do rigorous fundamental work to understand a company, and develop ideas to help it grow and increase profits. They also are persistent, thoughtful, and creative agents for change." — Dennis Kass, Former Chairman and CEO, Jennison Associates, former Chairman and current Director of Legg Mason, Inc., and current Trian Advisory Partner."

quote villain critique

"Leadership in Content Security: The growth of social media platforms and the need to secure the user and advertiser generated content on these platforms has led to an explosion in demand for content moderation services. As of June 30, 2021, we had approximately 5,250 front line teammates performing work in Content Security dealing with misinformation, offensive content, and critical policy issues. We believe our revenue CAGR of 157% in this service offering from 2017 to 2020 is evidence that our clients view this offering as critical and differentiated. — TASK IPO Prospectus"

TaskUs, Inc. · TASK Spruce Point Capital · p. 24
quote other

"“Trian is in the business of making good companies a lot better. Their research, analysis, and recommendations are focused on operational and strategic initiatives to build shareholder value over the long term. They ask tough, probing questions, do rigorous fundamental work to understand a company, and develop ideas to help it grow and increase profits. They also are persistent, thoughtful, and creative agents for change.” — Dennis Kass, Former Chairman and CEO, Jennison Associates, former Chairman and current Director of Legg Mason, Inc., and current Trian Advisory Partner."

quote other

""Trian is in the business of making good companies a lot better. Their research, analysis, and recommendations are focused on operational and strategic initiatives to build shareholder value over the long term. They ask tough, probing questions, do rigorous fundamental work to understand a company, and develop ideas to help it grow and increase profits. They also are persistent, thoughtful, and creative agents for change." — Dennis Kass, Former Chairman and CEO, Jennison Associates, former Chairman and current Director of Legg Mason, Inc., and current Trian Advisory Partner."

quote villain critique

"“Several institutions received the Lightning initially to test it. For free, or we were organizing demos internally, so we were actually helping some of the potential customers to run their samples on the machine and develop their assays to see if the Lightning could generate the data that they were interested in. However, the price was steep, so budgeting it in was always an issue. They would have like to have seen more published data on the machine, generally, a bigger body of data that had been generated internally before committing to the purchase.” — Former BLI employee"

Berkeley Lights · BLI Scorpion Capital · p. 145
quote villain critique

"“We get a huge volume of share from local - within the city, like Boston to Boston, New York to New York type of transplant on our device. And you would ask why would they use it when it costs a lot of money. It costs a lot of money...you keep it there for whatever, a few hours while you’re figuring out your logistics between hospital A and hospital B. We’ve had cases where the OCS device was used, and our service was used within the same hospital. So, they take out the organ, they put it on the OCS device, and a couple of hours later.” — Ex-logistics employee at Transmedics"

TransMedics Group Inc · TMDX Scorpion Capital · p. 158
quote peer gap

""Sinch has a poor reputation in the VOIP wholesale sector. They tend to ignore reports about fraudulent or criminal behavior by their customers, choosing instead to sell large quantities of numbers for profit. Even popular apps like TextNow rely on Sinch numbers, which scammers sometimes exploit." — Reddit r/ScamNumbers user. "In my experience, Sinch's customer support regarding fraud reports—whether submitted via email or web forms—has been disappointing. Neither Sinch nor its wholesalers offer consumers updates on cases filed through their webforms." — Scammer.Info poster."

Sinch AB · SINCH Grizzly Research · p. 13
quote villain critique

"The Company is currently in discussions with the FTC regarding a potential resolution of these matters. The possible range of outcomes include the filing by the FTC of a contested civil complaint, further discussions leading to a settlement which could include a monetary payment and other relief or the closure of these matters without action... Moreover, no assurances can be given that the outcome of these matters will not have a material adverse impact on the Company's business operations, its financial condition or its results of operations. — Herbalife Form 10-K, pg. 100"

quote villain critique

"University of Maryland officials have worked for years to cultivate the institution’s reputation as a leader in quantum technology research, having housed one of the laboratories from which IonQ was hatched. — Baltimore Sun article, Sep 8, 2021. "We could not be more proud of IonQ’s success and we are excited to establish this strategic partnership, further solidifying UMD and the surrounding region as the Quantum Capital of the world." — University of Maryland President Darryll J. Pines. "Quantum can be for us what silicon was for Silicon Valley" — President Darryll Pines."

IonQ Inc. · IONQ Scorpion Capital · p. 153
quote villain critique

"“Evidence strongly suggests that the time commitment required to be an effective board member... has jumped in recent years.” — ISS 2016 Proxy Policy Update; “We believe the volatility of this situation, including Elliott's push for [Dr.] Kleinfeld to be removed from his position as CEO of Arconic, may further distract from [Dr.] Kleinfeld's board commitments at the Company.” — Glass Lewis, 2017 HPE Proxy Paper; “There isn't a corporate/shareholder event of prestige Klaus often declines so as to put in more hours at the office...” — Cara Goldenberg, Value Walk, May 15, 2016"

Arconic Inc. · ARNC Elliott Management · p. 245
quote other

""It is necessary to have a number of measures supporting smaller ESG rating providers to enable them to continue their activities, or to enter the market after the date of application of this Regulation." — Council Mandate. "Competition among ESG rating providers and an environment in which small ESG rating providers can enter the market are key, as concentration among providers can result in higher prices, barriers to entry, lower competition, reduced innovation, less geographical diversity in providers and poor coverage of smaller issuers." — European Parliament Proposal."

MSCI Inc. · MSCI Spruce Point Capital · p. 55
quote ceo quote

"While our termite business has been growing by double digits for several years in a row now, termite damage claims as well as any related to litigation have declined year-by-year reaching our lowest level in recent history during 2021. To be more specific, termite damage claims received have declined from a high of 9,349 to the low of 380 new claims received this past year, while at the same time, revenue from termite has tripled. — Wilson, Vice Chairman, Q4 2021; We don't break out the termite business from the ancillary, so it's hard to report that. — Krause, CFO, Q4 2022"

Rollins Inc. · ROL Spruce Point Capital · p. 71
quote ceo quote

"So the -- I think the response to the Omnia launch has been very good. And as I mentioned in my remarks, we've now just launched Omnia in Europe and Australia following approvals there, respectively. I think the Omnia launch is doing as well as we could have hoped on a relative basis, obviously the COVID interruption aside, we felt extremely good about what Omnia was doing in the U.S. in the first quarter coming into COVID. And again, from a relative standpoint, we think we continue to do well with Omnia. — Keith Grossman, Nevro CEO, comments on August 5, 2020 earnings call"

Nevro Corp. · NVRO Scorpion Capital · p. 133
quote transition

"Microsoft and Sony woke up to the fact that building highly customized console hardware creates compatibility issues with the previous console, which is negative for the consumer as well as developers — EA CFO Blake Jorgensen, Nov 2017. Although we need to be cautious of potential volatility in profitability due to the console cycle, we are working to mitigate the volatility by leveraging the more than 92 million units cumulative install base of PS4 to benefit from new business models created with Network Services and add-on content sales — Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki, Feb 2019."

Sony Corporation · 6758.T Third Point · p. 58
quote villain critique

"The Company is currently in discussions with the FTC regarding a potential resolution of these matters. The possible range of outcomes include the filing by the FTC of a contested civil complaint, further discussions leading to a settlement which could include a monetary payment and other relief or the closure of these matters without action... Moreover, no assurances can be given that the outcome of these matters will not have a material adverse impact on the Company's business operations, its financial condition or its results of operations. — Herbalife Form 10-K, pg. 100"

quote appendix data

"Party B shall at the time of execution of this agreement provide to Party A for its review records and reports including a copy of the school's registration certificate, a copy of the private non-enterprise legal person registration certificate, a copy of the certificate stating the organization's code, a copy of the permit, a copy of the tax registration certificate, the capital verification report certificate, the school's articles of incorporation, a photograph of the school, the organization's organizational chart, name list of the staff and rules and regulations, etc."

quote villain critique

"They made this claim on 32-qubit 4.2 quantum volume. And they realized they put themselves in a corner because no matter what they come out with, it’s not 32-qubits and 4.2 quantum volume. So, they’ve been very careful, and they will tell you they will no longer publish quantum volume, and if you want to know it, you’ve got to figure it out for yourself. And there are two things: One is dancing around the fact that they shot their mouth off. Secondly, they can’t recover from shooting their mouth off, so now they’re saying we don’t publish quantum volume. — Former executive"

IonQ Inc. · IONQ Scorpion Capital · p. 57
quote ceo quote

"Unless otherwise noted, ratings on Assured Guaranty's insured portfolio and on bonds or notes purchased pursuant to loss mitigation strategies or other risk management strategies (loss mitigation securities) are Assured Guaranty's internal ratings. Internal credit ratings are expressed on a rating scale similar to that used by the rating agencies and generally reflect an approach similar to that employed by the rating agencies, except that Assured Guaranty's internal credit ratings focus on future performance, rather than lifetime performance. — AGO 10-K, February 23, 2018"

Assured Guaranty · AGO Greenlight Capital · p. 26
quote villain critique

"To us, the Audit Committee's characterization of Verint's and Bodner's actions as "not best business practice" is a gross understatement. Under no circumstances would we be comfortable investing in a company and management team which has structured customer agreements to manufacture more gradual sales growth and which has purposefully inflated accounting reserves. In the Audit Committee's judgment, Bodner and the Company "did not participate in unlawful activities or wrongful conduct," but, given the nature of the claims, we wonder just close they came to breaking the law."

Verint Systems, Inc. · VRNT Spruce Point Capital · p. 94
quote villain critique

"“Lasertec tries to keep us in the dark” about the performance of the machines with the Urashima source versus the Ushio one, that the Urashima tools “are right next to our two”: “we can look...they can’t really stop us from looking.” He stated that the Lasertec engineers he interacts with work on both EUV light sources, and that “there’s as much downtime on those machines as there is on ours...my impression from being around them is that the production is about the same.” — Ushio field engineer who maintains light sources on Lasertec ACTIS A150 machines at Intel Oregon fab"

Lasertec Corporation · 6920 Scorpion Capital · p. 152
quote ceo quote

"“Retail leasing activity increased significantly in the first quarter of 2010, with total in-line and outparcel tenant leasing deals covering 1.36 million square feet signed, an increase of 21% over the same period of last year. Within total deals, the number of new lease deals grew 84%, representing new deal square footage of approximately 284 thousand square feet. Although rents remain below 2007 peak levels, they have stabilized. As sales continue their upward trend, the Company expects lease rates to reflect those increases over time.” — GGP Q1’10 Operating Supplement"

General Growth Properties · GGP Pershing Square · p. 21
quote peer gap

"Change would be easy enough. But if I was going to change, I'd probably look at my safety and camera provider, whether it was Samsara or Netradyne or Lytx or whoever and see if they have a bolt-on ELD program that could go with it...[Switching suppliers] would be very, very easy. — Director of Transportation at J.Polep, 9/27/22. That's easy. I can name three. Netradyne, Lytx, SmartDrive. There is clear differentiation in those products. It's night and day. It's completely different products. It's not dash cam. — Former Director of Sales, New Business at Omnitracs, 7/29/22"

Samsara Inc. · IOT Spruce Point Capital · p. 51
quote ceo quote

""The pros of acquiring RCA are exemplified by its revenue primarily being subscription based, with 90%+ renewal rates (and improving). Additionally, we believe its mid-to-high teens revenue growth has accelerated over the last two years - despite the pandemic and challenges facing the CRE industry" — Barclays Capital, Aug 2, 2021; "We have a strong conviction in our ability to create incremental value from this combination and are raising our long-term target for real state revenue growth to the high-teens from the mid-teens percentage range." — RCA Deal Call, Aug 2, 2021"

MSCI Inc. · MSCI Spruce Point Capital · p. 68
quote villain critique

"“These consolidated financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis notwithstanding the net current liabilities as at March 31, 2016 because the directors of the Company are of the opinion that based on the unconditional banking facilities of RMB 11,231,622,000 not utilised by the Group as of the date of issue of these consolidated financial statements, the Group would have adequate funds to meet its liabilities as and when they fall due at least twelve months from the end of the reporting” — KPMG (Huishan's auditor) disclosure in notes to the financials."

quote villain critique

"I put a lot of money on the fact that dude, I'm probably their number-one guy. I can't imagine somebody more aggressive than I am about this. I mean, there might be more people, but I bet you dollars to donuts, I might be the top. I don't know for sure. I've never been told. But, I mean, if I'm not number one, I've got to be number two. I mean, there's no way somebody writes that much more than I do...Who the hell wouldn't want to write this shit? To me, it blows my mind how doctors don't write for it. I just can't figure it out. — Physician and Harmony speaker in Alabama"

Harmony Biosciences Holdings · HRMY Scorpion Capital · p. 265
quote ceo quote

"“We continue to see new applications choosing pressure-sensitive. On the label side, pressure-sensitive is obviously not the only choice. Some packages still use wet glue-applied paper labels, there are flexible packages like pouches, there are shrink labels, and there is direct print on containers. All of these solutions play a role in the market. But for many decades now, pressure-sensitive has been a winning technology through the superior design flexibility that it offers; flexibility that leads to superior shelf appeal and functionality.” — Avery Dennison Management"

Avery Dennison Corporation · AVY Spruce Point Capital · p. 20
quote villain critique

"The intense competition we face in the sales of our products and services and general economic and business conditions could put pressure on us to change our prices. If our competitors offer deep discounts on certain products or services or develop products that the marketplace considers more valuable, we may need to lower prices, introduce pricing models and offerings that are less favorable to us, or offer other favorable terms in order to compete successfully. Any such changes could reduce revenues and margins and adversely affect our operating results. — DV 2022 10-K"

DoubleVerify Holdings, Inc. · DV Spruce Point Capital · p. 27
quote villain critique

"I don't think so. In our field, if a receiving surgeon hears that the recovery surgeon said I don't think he organ should go, it's very unlikely he will go. Very unlikely...I don't even know if that organ ended up transplanted or not. I don't even know if it did well afterwards or not. We're not in communication with the transplant centers... they don't even tell us if this organ got transplanted or not or if this organ ended up transplanted and is doing well or not. We don't know. We simply don't know. — Transplant procurement surgeon previously working with TransMedics"

TransMedics Group Inc · TMDX Scorpion Capital · p. 231
quote ceo quote

"“Mr. Peltz... has presented no strategic ideas for Disney...” — Disney Letter to Shareholders, 02/01/24; “Nelson Peltz does not understand Disney’s business...” — Disney Investor Presentation, 01/17/23; “[I]f [Madison Square Garden Sports] is [Nelson Peltz’s] training ground, it has not been a good one.” — Disney Investor Presentation, 01/17/23; “Mr. Peltz is “in partnership with Isaac Perlmutter... [who] has voiced his longstanding personal agenda against Disney’s CEO, [Bob] Iger, which may be different than that of all other shareholders.” — Disney Statement, 11/30/23"

The Walt Disney Company · DIS Trian Partners · p. 123
quote villain critique

"For purposes of establishing 2008 compensation, the peer group consisted of the following companies: Acme Packet, Inc., Amerigon, Inc., Blue Coat Systems, Inc., Cephaid, Inc., Concur Technologies, Inc., Falconstor Software, Inc., Globarstar, Inc., J2 Global Communications, Inc., NuVasiv, Inc., Omniture, Inc., Riverbed Technology, Inc., Sigma Designs, Inc., Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation, Smith Micro Software, Inc., Spectranetics Corporation, Ultimate Software Group, Inc., VASCO Data Security International, Inc., and Zoltek Companies, Inc. — Axon 2008 proxy statement"

Axon Enterprise (formerly TASER) · AAXN Spruce Point Capital · p. 69
quote villain critique

"Given the lack of change in management and lack of sustained growth, the board has not done a good job of oversight — Foreign Buyside Analyst; The board of directors is not independent... they are doing things in a half-hearted way — Domestic Sellside Analyst; CPG is a street fight at the shelf...How do you do that with a largely Japanese board that has nobody from marketing, nobody from E-Com, nobody from supply chain on there? — Foreign Buyside Analyst; Even the director with the most international experience is not from the consumer sector — Domestic Sellside analyst"

Kao Corporation · 4452.JP Oasis Management · p. 129
quote ceo quote

"“Mr. Peltz... has presented no strategic ideas for Disney...” — Disney Letter to Shareholders, 02/01/24; “Nelson Peltz does not understand Disney’s business...” — Disney Investor Presentation, 01/17/23; “[I]f [Madison Square Garden Sports] is [Nelson Peltz’s] training ground, it has not been a good one.” — Disney Investor Presentation, 01/17/23; “Mr. Peltz is “in partnership with Isaac Perlmutter... [who] has voiced his longstanding personal agenda against Disney’s CEO, [Bob] Iger, which may be different than that of all other shareholders.” — Disney Statement, 11/30/23"

The Walt Disney Company · DIS Trian Partners · p. 123
quote villain critique

"The Company had a major account receivable, that of Beijing Bi Er Culture Communication Limited, (“Bi Er”) a limited company based in Beijing, for which the Company provided advertising and other support services under a Strategic Co-operative Agreement signed in August 2019. The balance as of March 31, 2021, is $1,345,080. However, following a breach in a separate Debt Assignment Agreement (see Note 7) in January 2021, the Company considers the recoverability of this debtor doubtful and has made a full provision for this amount as of March 31, 2021. — MOXC Q2 2021 10-Q"

Moxian, Inc. · MOXC Wolfpack Research · p. 12
quote villain critique

"“It’s practically relevant in the same sense like demonstrating an 11-bit vacuum tube computer in 1920 might have been relevant...I would not say it’s relevant in terms of solving real problems now or solving real problems next year or probably in five years or probably in 10 years.” — Former IonQ employee, physicist; “No [chuckles], nothing. I mean, you can demonstrate in principle that you technically have a quantum computer, which is to say you have a system where you can provide inputs and get an output, but you can’t do anything useful with it.” — Ex-IonQ employee"

IonQ Inc. · IONQ Scorpion Capital · p. 90
quote villain critique

""These faulty recommendations, plaintiffs argue, were the products not of naïve optimism, or an honest disagreement, but of calculated misdirection," — Court's summary of AOL fraud case. "While in many securities cases, the parties rely on circumstantial evidence to recreate what defendants must have known, plaintiffs have provided striking direct evidence to buttress their claims," — U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner. "would NOT lower numbers on AOL, even though they can't make them." — Laura Martin. "not honest" — Laura Martin. "accounting gimmickry." — Laura Martin."

Magnite, Inc. · MGNI Spruce Point Capital · p. 47
quote villain critique

""The initial report documented blocks of numbers on the Onvoy network used to facilitate Spectrum and later Xfinity customer support scams, all acquired by scammers operating out of illegal call centers in Pakistan. It highlighted Sinch's lack of communication, the limitations of its sole reporting method, the Sinch webform, and compared it with other telecom providers that acted quickly and offered accessible reporting channels to the average consumer. This updated report confirms that the issues identified in 2024 remain unresolved." — December 2025, Demurrage Report"

Sinch AB · SINCH Grizzly Research · p. 15
quote villain critique

"“you would be very unlikely to see us overnight, going and exploding the leverage profile of this business.” — Burford Management; “I think we have you know, at least I have largely been focused on public investors and on rebutting the various,” — Burford CEO; “We are, after all, a firm run by lawyers.” — Burford Management; “The line in our report today was more about the prospect that, you know, in the in the relatively near term, we suspect, well, we believe that one of our existing directors is likely to retire from the board and be replaced.” — Burford Management"

Burford Capital Ltd. · BUR Muddy Waters · p. 7
quote villain critique

"Direct operating expenses are both fixed and variable expenses and consist of operating costs related to our contract logistics facilities, last mile warehousing facilities, LTL service centers and European LTL network. Direct operating costs consist mainly of personnel costs, facility and equipment expenses such as rent, equipment maintenance and repair expenses, costs of materials and supplies, information technology expenses, depreciation expense, utilities and other facility related costs and gains and losses on sales of property and equipment. — Q3'18 10-Q, p. 25"

XPO Logistics, Inc. · XPO Spruce Point Capital · p. 29
quote appendix disclosure

"“This reduction in financial strength would eventually cause rating agencies to lower credit ratings of these life insurers, which in turn would trigger a reduction in confidence of investors, customers and agents of the life insurer. This could ultimately result in reductions in sales, increases in customers terminating their contracts, increase pressure on the liquidity of the company and reduce ability to raise capital; This cascading sequence of events ultimately has the potential to cause the insurer to become insolvent . . .” — Expert Report of Leslie P. Rehbeli"

quote villain critique

"“We believe this proxy fight boils down to a simple question: Do you trust the judgment of Elliott, a hedge fund without the benefit of full information and with no fiduciary duty to you or to any other Arconic shareholder, or do you trust 12 experienced business executives who have thoroughly reviewed Elliott’s assertions and unanimously support the continued leadership of Mr. Kleinfeld? We encourage you to rely on the judgment of the Arconic Board, which is independent, objective and thoroughly dedicated to the interests of all Arconic shareholders.” — Arconic Board"

Arconic Inc. · ARNC Elliott Management · p. 330
quote other

"“Derma is a great place to be in ... generally, you are going to be pricing higher than mass cosmetics so the margins are better, but very often you will be going through the same retail channels as mass so there a distribution overlaps if you are already playing in mass. Because it tends to occupy a middle ground between prestige and mass cosmetics it's also one of those items that tends to be less susceptible to budget cutting in a recession as well versus prestige cosmetics” — Former Unilever Prestige Cosmetics Division Brand Director, Oasis interview November 2023"

Kao Corporation · 4452.JP Oasis Management · p. 51
quote villain critique

"Recent troubles at WebMD date back to early 2010 when a very public scandal surfaced—one that may have permanently tarnished WebMD’s image for a significant number of customers—that ended with a formal investigation by the US Senate in which a letter from Senator Charles Grassley of the US Senate Finance Committee stated that he was “concerned about the independence between WebMD and industry since many people access WebMD seeing it as an independent, objective medical resource.” — Excerpt from “Has WebMD become Synonymous with Big Pharma?”, Business Insider, 10/31/12"

Progyny, Inc. · PGNY Spruce Point Capital · p. 19
quote villain critique

"Total revenue was $51.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, an increase of $50.8 million compared to $0.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. The increase in revenue was primarily due to $41.2 million of non-cash revenue recognized under our license agreement with SanReno and a development milestone of $10.0 million recognized under our agreement with Merck and Co, Inc., or Merck. The agreement with Merck was acquired through the Merger. For additional information, refer to Note 11 “Collaboration and License Agreements”. — Chinook 2021 10-K, Pg. 77"

Chinook Therapeutics · KDNY Muddy Waters · p. 5
quote villain critique

"“Ginkgo wanted to pretty much control everything and be in charge.” — Current executive at Motif; “They had the same experience as us. Joyn Bio’s feedback is that Ginkgo wanted to pretty much control everything and be in charge.” — Current executive at Motif; “So, I do think they [Joyn Bio] did try to push to be independent, to be fair. But I do think that with the follow-on companies that they've announced since then have been crafted or architected in a different way to prevent that from happening because Ginkgo lost control of Joyn” — Former director-level employee"

Ginkgo Bioworks · DNA Scorpion Capital · p. 97
quote villain critique

"“I recall from our PK data...I can't think of any reason why the substitution couldn't achieve the same result”; “there were definitely kids not able to swallow it...it is a very serious issue in these patients...the oral suspension would make more sense for delivery...if people start taking that approach...I can see most pediatric patients preferring that rout...there was definitely a discussion around it...there were giving to them in applesauce...to find a way to make it more palatable to swallow.” — Ex-senior Soleno employee #2, oversight of clinical trial program"

Soleno Therapeutics · SLNO Scorpion Capital · p. 219
quote ceo quote

"When you think about how cash flow and leverage should play out over the balance of the year, we should incur an additional $140 million to $150 million of CAPEX and approximately $140 million, $145 million of cash interest costs in the second half of the year. If you layer on the conservative assumption of working capital, ending the year as cash flow neutral, you get to a free cash flow number of somewhere between $275 million and $300 million for the back half of the year, depending on your views of where we end up in terms of EBITDA. — Q2 Earnings Conference Call"

GFL Environmental Inc. · GFL Spruce Point Capital · p. 80
quote villain critique

"… According to the Capital Increase Agreement, Jianteng Peisheng (健腾沛盛) will subscribe for 8.96% equity of Xin'ai Sports for 300 million yuan, corresponding to the new registered capital of 12 million yuan, and the excess of 288 million yuan will be included in Xin'ai Sports Capital Reserve; Qiwei Investment (曜伟投资) will subscribe for 1.49% equity of Xin'ai Sports for 50 million yuan, corresponding to Xin'ai Sports' newly added registered capital of 2 million yuan, and the excess of 48 million yuan will be included in Xin'ai Sports Capital Reserve. — Wolfpack Research"

iQIYI, Inc. · IQ Wolfpack Research · p. 18
quote villain critique

""Rizzo Environmental is a natural fit, both geographically and culturally, for GFL's plans to grow the GFL brand into the United States." — GFL and CEO Dovigi, Oct 2016. "The former CEO of garbage hauler Rizzo Environmental Services (RES), Charles B. "Chuck" Rizzo, 46, of Bloomfield Hills, was indicted today on five counts of bribery and three counts of conspiracy to commit bribery..." — Justice Dept, Oct 2016. "We found out about the allegations through the Detroit Free Press article. We were not advised by anyone internally." — Dovigi on the Rizzo Fraud, Oct 2016."

GFL Environmental Inc. · GFL Spruce Point Capital · p. 82
quote ceo quote

"“And what's interesting, when you promote people into new jobs or bring in new talent from outside, how you get increasingly different insights into how we operate our business. Adding these people and promoting these people are making us a better company. They're raising the bar in terms of the excellence that we expect of ourselves and we expect of our staff. And it is in fact permeating the entire organization. As new people come in with new ideas and raise the expectations, it's helping us better perform as a company.” — Gerald Hassell, CEO 10/28/14 Investor Day"

quote villain critique

""If you lined up all these biological instruments, like every instrument you can imagine for life sciences, I don't know the exact number; it's gotta be in the 99th or 98th percentile on price. It is up there. And look at 10X, I mean, flip this thing on its head. 10X offers a dirt-cheap system. It's $60k, $100k, something like that, easily covered under a grant, and then they sell these consumables. That are kind of expensive, but the margins are great. It's a razor blade model. BLI model is the reverse - a $2,000,000 device, and a $2000 chip" — Former BLI executive"

Berkeley Lights · BLI Scorpion Capital · p. 143
quote villain critique

""De Andres did a blinded outcomes assessment with Nevro to Medtronic. In other words, they blinded the outcomes assessors, like you're supposed to do in medicine to eliminate investigator bias. They also made sure that the programming time was equal for each system so that there wasn't bias. Nevro, in their Senza and other studies, doesn't do that. Nevro biased patients by talking about [the comparator device with] paresthesia as evil, while the De Andres study showed that there was no difference between Nevro and Medtronic." — West coast-based high volume implanter"

Nevro Corp. · NVRO Scorpion Capital · p. 74
quote villain critique

"“Delaying cases for the morning is true - let me be real blunt. You have to beg the nurses to come in and pay them a lot of money and anesthesia, the same way. In fact, some of the anesthesia people will quit after a while because they don't want to work all night. So, when we do this, it's for the operating room team to start at the normal time, at 7:30 in the morning...So, do some centers use it on everyone when they don't need to? Absolutely correct and absolute fact.” — Transplant surgeon and transplant program director at a major academic center in Pennsylvania"

TransMedics Group Inc · TMDX Scorpion Capital · p. 163
quote villain critique

"“It’s really hard to get a procurement surgeon. One surgeon that I was talking with said they actually got an organ with not enough aorta to transplant into the patient. So, there wasn’t enough aorta for the poor patient to get the heart, but they rejected the organ. I’ve heard repeatedly that the people that they’ve hired to do the procurements are the surgeons that nobody wants to hire to be a transplant surgeon. These are not the crème de la crème that would be working at Mayo Clinic. These are people who need jobs.” — Former executive in a key reimbursement role"

TransMedics Group Inc · TMDX Scorpion Capital · p. 194