I believe that the empirical evidence supports that these guys do improve shareholder returns. It's not altruistic, they're doing it for their own position too

I believe that the empirical evidence supports that these guys do improve shareholder returns. It's not altruistic, they're doing it for their own position too, and they don't really care what happens after they leave. There is definitely something to be said for execs protecting their position rather than their company, especially when they are paid subjectively rather than corporate performance. (Or if they take corporate performance as a given) Here is the case against activists having a positive impact (which I disagree with, but share for the sake of being balanced): http://blogs.wsj.com/riskandcompliance/2013/09/30/lipton-takes-on-bebchuk-over-shareholder-activism/ http://blogs.wsj.com/riskandcompliance/2013/09/30/lipton-tak... Here is a paper that I agree with that highlights the persistent positive impact of activists: http://econ.as.nyu.edu/docs/IO/30891/AlonBrav.pdf http://econ.as.nyu.edu/docs/IO/30891/AlonBrav.pdf