Investor activist who targeted Yahoo is at it again
Eric Jackson helped lead an investor revolt at Yahoo that presaged last month's resignation of former CEO Terry Semel. Don't look now corporate America, but Jackson is again poised to launch his own brand of Web-powered investor activism on a new target.
The CEO of a Naples, Fla.,-based consulting company, Jackson is not ready to disclose which company he's setting his sites on next, but he said Tuesday he plans to announce the name in coming weeks. This much is certain: The man, who challenged Semel during a recent stockholder meeting by asking him to apologize for Yahoo's lackluster performance, will try to rally disgruntled investors via the Internet.
Jackson 's strategy is simple. His goal is to extend the influence of small investors by helping them band together on the Internet. With Yahoo, he launched his grassroots movement in January by attacking Semel in a video he posted to YouTube. He then took to blogging and exchanged ideas with other investors about Yahoo's failings on a wiki.
"Web 2.0 has taught us that the collective is smarter than any one person," Jackson said. "We're hoping there is going to be a lot of interactivity (with the upcoming campaign). It won't just be Eric Jackson's ideas. I want to get the ball rolling and get a lot of people contributing."
It's hard to say for certain what impact Jackson's efforts had on Semel's decision to leave, but Yahoo's board was re-elected last month with only 66 percent approval. Typically boards receive between 80 percent to 90 percent approval.
Poor-performing executive teams should take note. Jackson just might represent a new breed of investor activist, one with a loaded Internet quiver.
Greg Sandoval covers media and digital entertainment for CNET News. He is a former reporter for The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. E-mail Greg, or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sandoCNET.
thing that irks me about Cnet stories is the
use of to many words like: He, Her, Them,
They, etc, etc, or in this case: "a consulting
company in Florida". Is there a problem in
providing a link to this persons web site?
Other on-line rags have been providing
links for years and the trend seems to be
catching on. Come on Cnet, lets get with
the program, provide us viewers with the
links relating to the story. Ok, got that off
my chest. Now here is the link to Eric
Jacksons blog site:
http://seekingalpha.com/by/author/eric-jackson
And a link to his company site which has
been in limbo since the first quarter of 2005
which I find interesting for a consultant who
preaches about CEO performance. And hosted
by who? Yahoo hosting of corse!! Randys2cents
http://www.breakoutperformance.com/