Great article that reminds us how indolent and unresponsive are many corporate boardrooms. Just this AM, American Tower’s (AMT) board disappointed when they were unable to provide deep color on a large purchase of cell phone towers from Verizon at what appear to be the lowest margins of any of this REIT’s recent acquisitions. Perhaps they need to hear from activist investors as did Tim Cook shortly before announcing a share split, buy backs and dividend increases for Apple (AAPL) about a year ago (and look what that did for the stock!).
Capitalism’s unlikely heroes
Economist
AS INVENTIONS go, the public company is one of capitalism’s greatest. Initial public offerings promote innovation, by providing an exit route for entrepreneurs; being listed makes a firm open to scrutiny; and ordinary people have a chance to invest in capitalism’s wealth-creating machines.But the past 15 years have cast a shadow over the public company. There was not much sign of scrutiny or wealth creation in fiascos like Enron and Lehman Brothers. Governance has been weakened by the rise of passive index funds… Read More
