Within the space of a few days last August, Forbes and CNBC both ran pieces declaring this to be a “golden age” for activist investing. Put simply, activist investors are those who try to effect a major change in a company they feel is being mismanaged or is undervalued, usually by acquiring
large volumes of its shares or obtaining seats on its board. Activist hedge funds such as Elliott Management Corporation and Greenlight Capital Inc. now have more than $65 billion under management, according to The Wall Street Journal—an increase of around 450 percent in the past decade.
