This wasn't a mistake. It's the way activist shareholders push lagging stocks to rise. A common procedure is for someone to buy a large stake in a company that'

This wasn't a mistake. It's the way activist shareholders push lagging stocks to rise. A common procedure is for someone to buy a large stake in a company that's been around for a while that has lots of assets but the stock has lagged. They then get a few board seats and push the company to borrow against the assets of the company to buy back stock or give a special dividend. This makes the stock rise and they can get out at a profit. The company is then left with a truckload of debt which makes it hard to invest in the company's future. It happened to ToysRUS, Sears and other well-known brands. This usually happens after a company has been around for a while and is unable to keep up with the competition and it's asset rich. It's the way public companies are attacked if they can't protect themselves from raiders. It's hard to tell whether it's a good or bad thing since the company was lagging even before the activist shareholder took control so it could have collapsed anyway. It's the CEO's job to keep the shareholders happy so this does not happen. Here's a story about one hitting Bed Bath and Beyond last year. I suspect there have been others. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/25/bed-bath-beyond-strikes-deal-with-activist-investor-ryan-cohen.html https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/25/bed-bath-beyond-strikes-deal...