Vendor
	Fritz Agency Christian Dittus
Original language
English

DEAR CHAIRMAN

Jeff Gramm

Boardroom Battles and the Rise of Shareholder Activism

A must-read for the business community and investors detailing how shareholders have shaped the history of some of the world's most important companies.

DEAR CHAIRMAN includes a collection of shareholder letters from legendary investors like Warren Buffett to boards of directors of prominent companies. These primary source documents are fascinating insider looks at how business in some of the world's largest companies actually works. DEAR CHAIRMAN traces the rise, for better and for worse, of shareholder activism over the course of almost a century, and provides an invaluableand unprecedentedperspective on what it actually means to be a public company.

Jeff Gramm is Portfolio Manager at Bandera Partners, a hedge fund he co-founded in 2006. He serves as a Director of two public companies, and teaches a course on value investing at Columbia Business School, where he received his MBA in 2003.

Available products
Book Published 2016-02-01 by HarperBusiness

Comments

China: Grand Chind Publishing

When major shareholders get actively involved, how do they think about companies and their value? Jeff Gramm breaks new ground in a book which is exciting, wise, well-written, and above all else instructive and useful. Tyler Cowen, New York Times bestselling author of The Great Stagnation, professor of economics George Mason University

[This] book is a revelation: a lively account of a long war against corporate and investor smugness

Jeff Gramm has a refreshing approach to the generations-long conflict between entrenched corporate management and shareholder activists. Gramm illustrates this seemingly never ending struggle for corporate control by examining specific well known and surprisingly interesting examples, including correspondence ranging from the fabled Benjamin Graham to John D. Rockefeller Jr. in 1927, from Ross Perot to General Motors CEO Roger B. Smith in 1985, and more. DEAR CHAIRMAN is an engaging and worthwhile read. -- Alan Greenspan, Former Chairman of the Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System

Jeff Gramm's fascinating archaeology of shareholder activism lays bare the foundation upon which today's turbulent, performance oriented stock market stands. DEAR CHAIRMAN is an important, interesting, and insightful history. Frederick W. Smith, Chairman & CEO, FedEx Corporation

Public companies face the high standards of the marketplace: fill a need, grow, and remember always that you are the trustee of your stockholders' money. DEAR CHAIRMAN is a fascinating and colorful history of what resulted when that was occasionally forgotten or ignored. It should be required reading for anyone who wants to participate in our great ownership system, as investor or manager. Charles R. Schwab, Chairman, The Charles Schwab Corporation

The story of the rise of shareholder activism has never been told as compellingly and instructively as Jeff Gramm offers it in DEAR CHAIRMAN, a book that dissects the dramatic deals and brings to life the unbelievable characters of the past 100 years. Arthur Levitt, Former Chairman, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

The letters give insight into how shareholder activism can both benefit and harm companies. Gramm's findings will intrigue and inform history buffs and activist shareholders alike.