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Proxy fight
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<h2 id="examples">Examples</h2> <ul><li>An acquiring company, frustrated by the <a href="/facts/Takeover/JGfEbTy0">takeover defenses</a> of the management, may initiate a proxy fight to install a more compliant management of the target.</li> <li>Internal opponents to an impending takeover (viewing it will cut value or add much risk) may enter into a proxy fight. Such took place within <a href="/facts/Hewlett-Packard/abuNSYNu">Hewlett-Packard</a>, before <a href="/facts/Carly_Fiorina/f91PCYBt">Carly Fiorina</a>'s management of that company in 2002 took over <a href="/facts/Compaq/6LuhWTE7">Compaq</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a></li> <li>Absent any looming takeover, proxy fights emerge from shareholders unhappy with management, with or without legal and equitable <a href="/facts/Derivative_suit/al0EeqA3">derivative suit</a> grounds, as with <a href="/facts/Carl_Icahn/xVA7M2TJ">Carl Icahn</a>'s effort in 2005–06 to oust most of the board of <a href="/facts/Time_Warner/MvXvu3lU">Time Warner</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a></li> <li>An early history of proxy fighting, detailing such 1950s battles as the fight for control of some of the largest U.S. corporations, including the <a href="/facts/Bank_of_America/fXUQI9vp">Bank of America</a> and the <a href="/facts/New_York_Central_Railroad/czxyBaA8">New York Central Railroad</a>, can be found in <a href="/facts/David_Karr/v23mEVxd">David Karr</a>'s 1956 volume, <i>Fight for Control</i>.</li></ul> <h2 id="key-players">Key players</h2> <p>Due to their out-sized influence with many institutional investors, <a href="/facts/Proxy_advisor/ys1de8K7">proxy advisors</a> play a key role in many proxy fights. In many cases, the proxy firms end up determining the result of the contest.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 also gave the <a href="/facts/U.S._Securities_and_Exchange_Commission/IM9Pl2gK">Securities and Exchange Commission</a> (SEC) the power to regulate the solicitation of proxies.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a>: 4 Some of the rules the SEC has since proposed, like the universal proxy, have been controversial because opponents have suggested that they would increase the amount of proxy fights.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a>: 61 </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Proxy_statement/8AzJj6eN">Proxy statement</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Klein, Ramseyer, and Bainbridge. Business Associations: Cases and Materials on Agency, Partnerships, and Corporations. (7th Ed.) Foundation Press. <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Webber, David H. (April 2018). The Rise of the Working-Class Shareholder: Labor's Last Best Weapon. Harvard University Press. pp. 46–47. ISBN 978-0-674-91946-4. Retrieved 15 November 2019. <a href="978-0-674-91946-4" target="_blank">978-0-674-91946-4</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Klein, April; Zur, Emanuel (2009). "Entrepreneurial Shareholder Activism: Hedge Funds and Other Private Investors". The Journal of Finance. 64: 187–229. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6261.2008.01432.x. <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1540-6261.2008.01432.x/full.html" target="_blank">http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1540-6261.2008.01432.x/full.html</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Hirst, Scott; Bebchuk, Lucian (2010-01-01). "Private Ordering and the Proxy Access Debate". The Harvard John M. Olin Discussion Paper Series (653). <a href="https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/338" target="_blank">https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/338</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>HP declares proxy win <a href="http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2002/03/20/fin_hp_declares_proxy.html" target="_blank">http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2002/03/20/fin_hp_declares_proxy.html</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Frank Biondi Joins Carl Icahn in Time Warner Proxy Fight Archived 2010-02-18 at the Wayback Machine <a href="http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2006/01/31/frank-biondi-joins-carl-icahn-in-time-warner-proxy-fight" target="_blank">http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2006/01/31/frank-biondi-joins-carl-icahn-in-time-warner-proxy-fight</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"Protecting Shareholders From Activist Proxies". The Wall Street Journal. 29 May 2015. Archived from the original on 2022-11-09. <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/protecting-shareholders-from-activist-proxies-1432860067" target="_blank">https://www.wsj.com/articles/protecting-shareholders-from-activist-proxies-1432860067</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Hirst, Scott (2018-04-01). "Universal Proxies". The Harvard Law School Program on Corporate Governance Discussion Paper (2016–11). <a href="https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/344" target="_blank">https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/344</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Hirst, Scott (2018-04-01). "Universal Proxies". The Harvard Law School Program on Corporate Governance Discussion Paper (2016–11). <a href="https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/344" target="_blank">https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/344</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>