Callouts & quotes from 234+ activist slides

"“A recession is when you have to tighten your belt; depression is when you have no belt to tighten. When you've lost your trousers - you're in the airline business.” — Sir Adam Thomson, Founder and Chairman of British Caledonian, one of Britain's most successful independent airlines"

"“Disingenuous” — Referenced in a 2016 email regarding Chairman and CEO Christopher Franklin. “Financial Expert” — Title given to Audit Chairman Lee C. Stewart. “fraud” and having “many characteristics of a Ponzi scheme” — Bankruptcy trustee description of Fletcher Asset Management."

"For the stock market speculators interested in enriching themselves through manipulation, information arbitrage and a “zero sum” gain, all at the expense of our investors, I am certain that their actions will ultimately catch up with them. — Zheng Cheng, Chairman, CEO and President"

"The SEC alleges that when the fraud was finally revealed, Satyam's then-Chairman, B. Ramalinga Raju, declared that maintaining Satyam's inflated revenues and profits "was like riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten." — SEC Charges Satyam with Financial Fraud"

"“AS OTHERS HAVE MERGED INTO MEGACOMPANIES, WE ARE BECOMING MORE STREAMLINED AND FOCUSED. AS OTHERS HAVE BROADENED THEIR PORTFOLIOS, WE ARE FOCUSING ON SELECT AREAS OF MEDICAL NEED.” — JIM CORNELIUS, FORMER BRISTOL-MYERS CHAIRMAN & CEO AND CREATOR OF THE “STRING OF PEARLS” STRATEGY"

"They [Chairman Ding Shizhong and Wu Yonghua] have a controlling stake in those companies, in those distributors. ... They have invested in this company. How to say? That is, they call these companies “subsidiaries” or “branch companies”. — Mr. A (former senior ANTA executive)"

""You know, it’s really amazing. I step out of the Ferrari, the Bentley, or whatever, and people go – ‘what does that guy do for a living? – and I go, ‘I’m an Herbalife independent distributor,’ and people are absolutely amazed" — Doran Andry, Chairman’s Club Member"

"“I work in the insurance industry because, as a balance-sheet guy, there’s a lot of junk you can play with… The fun you can engineer into an insurance company’s balance sheet is a lot more fun than some others.” — Dominic Frederico, 2001 (then Chairman of ACE INA)"

"It is unacceptable that the current Board was not made aware of the contract termination when it took place. We are taking immediate and appropriate measures to ensure that this type of communication breakdown is not repeated. — Dalton Gooding, Quintis Chairman"

"“Now, the integration value [of Speedway] is, I would say, proprietary. I can't give out a number from a competitive reason of that integration value, but I can say it is very significant...” — Gary Heminger, Former Chairman & CEO of Marathon Petroleum"

"Analytics is our long-term target to move from being a lower revenue generator in the low to mid-single digits to a medium revenue grower in the upper single digits over the long term. — CEO & Chairman Fernandez, Investor/Analyst Call, April 28, 2016"

"“Compensation is an important engine for a company's growth...(is it) linked to the growth of corporate value?... Verification against the market and global competitors is very important.” — Takatoshi Yamamoto, Hitachi Compensation Committee Chairman"

""The FTC settlement is an acknowledgment that our business model is sound and underscores our confidence in our ability to move forward successfully, otherwise we would not have agreed to these terms." — Michael O. Johnson, chairman & CEO, Herbalife"

"The Board determined once again this year that the service of Mr. Fink as both BlackRock's CEO and Chairman is the most appropriate and effective leadership structure for the Board and the Company at the present time. — BlackRock Board of Directors"

"We sincerely thank Martin for his many contributions and dedication to METTLER TOLEDO. We regret that he has to retire due to his new commitments and wish him well as he takes on this time-intensive role. — Robert F. Spoerry, Chairman of the Board"

""You can't judge us on a one-year basis. You have to do it over the long term." — John Hess, Chairman & CEO Hess, January 2010; "There is no hiding place for underperformance." — Rodney Chase, Shareholder Nominee, Former Deputy CEO BP, May 2005"

"Anytime you can sell a volume of MDI on a rail car basis on a long-term fixed contract basis, that's going to be something we like. So not everything has to go through a system house... — Peter Huntsman, Chairman, President & CEO, December 2019"

""[The accounts] had been reviewed and scrubbed quarterly since they were put in place by Arthur Andersen. We thought all that had become history, and it was now news." — Former Enron Corp. Chairman Kenneth Lay during his 2006 criminal trial"

"Speaking in unusually blunt terms, [the chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers global] told the Financial Times yesterday that Arata’s limited size reflected the availability of staff who met the firm performance standards. — Financial Times"

"The selection for this channel for the more detailed reply appears intended to help Chairman Larry Chen protect his personal reputation in China, rather than provide more or useful information to international investors and shareholders."

"“China is 1.3 billion people, you can recruit for a long time there before we had what was called the classic 'pop-and-drop' in that marketplace.” — Michael O. Johnson, Herbalife Chairman and CEO, HLF Q2 2008 Earnings Call, Aug. 6, 2008."

""The best measure to judge a company's performance over time is growth of free cash flow per share, and we believe that's what drives long-term value for our owners." — Rich Templeton, Chairman and former CEO of Texas Instruments."

"“...The key to [profitable growth] will be [that] we will be able to live within our means and deliver, I think, very attractive financial returns on a going forward basis as I said.” — John Hess, Chairman & CEO Hess"

"I'd like to have an explanation as to how you, as chairman of Telecom Italia and Olivetti, can justify a move like this that destroys so much value for Telecom Italia — Mark Levine, New York Times, 13 March 2003"

"[Jay] has been a valued colleague and friend, as well as a vital contributor to Disney's success, particularly in his roles as chief financial officer and chairman of our Parks and Resorts division. — Bob Iger"

"“We’re concerned that HMA is potentially selling itself short on its CEO search, as we’ve heard from many talented executives few would consider the job with a heavy-handed chairman.” — RW Baird, June 12, 2013"

"“I think if Muddy Waters analyzes our data seriously, there is a high probability that I think Muddy Waters will not be so stupid. The level and IQ of the people in Muddy Waters is quite high.” — Chairman Chen"

"“...our conventional portfolio generate[s] the cash needed to fund the unconventional growth that we have in the Bakken and the Utica.” — John Hess, Chairman & CEO Hess, January 2013"

"Robert Spoerry, non-Executive Chairman, who owns, directly or indirectly, 362,720 shares, has stated that in the context of estate planning, he intends to sell up to 125,000 shares."

"“There is, some that are bigger, some that are smaller. There’s some that we never think about and there some that we think about every other day.” — Bryant Riley, Chairman and CEO"

"Michael (CEO) doesn't like people asking questions he doesn't like. And Alan was doing his job as audit chairman and sort of rocked the boat too much. — Former Executive"

"“There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” — Sam Walton"

"“There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” — Sam Walton"

"No. This was the only assets literally that's acquired from Media Ventures... — Udo Müller Co-Founder, Chairman of Management Board and Chief Executive Officer"

"Ladies and gentleman, the holding of this role by a spouse of the chairman - please check for me; perhaps I'm wrong - is highly unsatisfactory. — Shareholder"

""Expedia to Spin Off TripAdvisor" — Scott Morrison, Wall Street Journal. "Barry Diller sells shares in TripAdvisor, steps down as chairman" — Business News."

"“... Our cleanse process culminated in record quarterly reported income ... of $42.5 million.” — Tom Schmitt, Chairman, President & CEO, October 27, 2021"

"Expedia to Spin Off TripAdvisor — Scott Morrison (Wall Street Journal). Barry Diller sells shares in TripAdvisor, steps down as chairman — Business News."

"There may be up to an additional 40 sites under construction that [AMT] will acquire over the next several months — James Taiclet, AMT CEO and chairman."

"Ex-Ontrak chairman was accused of abusing trading strategy that usually shields executives against suspicions of insider trading — WSJ Headline"

"many of the characteristics of a Ponzi scheme — Bankruptcy Trustee in court documents regarding a company the Audit Chairman once advised."

""when it came to serious discussions, I [Schoen] recommended to the board that we look at all our alternatives." — Chairman Bill Schoen"

"“I want everyone to understand that the most important thing in this business is to get to Supervisor.” — Shawn Dahl (Chairman’s Club)"

"The Lead Independent Director, especially in a dual Chairman and CEO role, should be like 'Caesar's wife'(1) - beyond suspicion."

""We have the portfolio of a major, we have the technical challenges of a major..." — John Hess, Chairman & CEO Hess, June 2010"

"The Lead Independent Director, especially in a dual Chairman and CEO role, should be like ‘Caesar's wife’ - beyond suspicion."

"Our interview with Mr. C indicates Mr. Lin is also the cousin (表弟) of the Chairman and head of ANTA’s Yunnan branch."

"SEC Charges Medical Diagnostics Company Chairman and Two Others Behind Scheme to Manipulate Company Stock — SEC PR"

"PeptiDream cannot possibly fail as long as the projects that that you see here stay on track. — Chairman Kubota"

"PeptiDream cannot possibly fail as long as the projects that that you see here stay on track — Chairman Kubota"

"CEO / Chairman Referenced Through Internal Email As “Disingenuous” — Spruce Point Capital Management"

""The team has done a terrific job trading assets along the way." — Jac Nasser, Chairman, May 4, 2017"

"Vilanek, Chairman: Although that was not a question, correction: the north is my home. — Vilanek"

"“very likely over” — Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke"