Check out Sheelah Kolhatkar's latest New Yorker piece
Sheelah Kolhatkar's latest in the print edition of
The New Yorker explores how "The head of Elliott Management has developed a uniquely adversarial, and immensely profitable, way of doing business."
❝ Activist investing is controversial: critics believe that it can force companies to lay off workers and curtail investment in new products in favor of schemes that boost short-term profits, while proponents view it as a useful source of pressure on C.E.O.s to reduce waste and manage their companies more effectively. In the press, Singer and similar investors have been compared to vultures, wolves, and hyenas. Bloomberg has called Singer “aggressive, tenacious and litigious to a fault,” anointing him “The World’s Most Feared Investor.” Singer’s ventures have been consistently successful, with average annual returns of almost fourteen per cent, making him and his employees enormously wealthy. The mere news that Elliott has invested in a company often causes its stock price to go up—creating even more wealth for Elliott. Singer has been deploying his riches in Republican politics, where he is one of the G.O.P.’s top donors and a powerful influence on the Party and its President. According to those who know Singer, in politics, as in business, he is intent on doing whatever it takes to win. [CBSNews.com]
| SHEELAH KOLHATKAR is a staff writer & financial columnist at The New Yorker, & author of the NY Times Bestseller, Black Edge. Watch her discuss robots, automation and the future of jobs in America on MSNBC below, and learn more about booking Sheelah for your next event today. |