The internet economy has long been supported by healthy growth in online advertising. In just 15 years, the industry has grown from scratch to $142 billion in 2014. And it drives the profits of the three most valuable internet companies in the world: Google, Facebook, and Alibaba, which collectively represent a breathtaking amount of value—more than $800 billion in market capitalization!
I have always loved the publishing business. It started in my teenage years in Denver, getting up at 4am, snow or shine, to deliver newspapers to 250 doorsteps. Once the job was complete, the cycle started anew. The next day edition was already in process; content being created, edited, packaged, printed, stacked and dropped on my driveway for me to distribute every 24 hours. Amazing.
The hottest topic in many corporate boardrooms today is shareholder activism—or more specifically, the vulnerability of becoming the target of a shareholder activist and what to do about it. Instead of looking at this as something to dread or, worse, have to defend against, boards of directors should be proactive about getting out ahead of it. As insiders, we are in a better position to act on our fiduciary responsibility to represent the interests of shareholders than is an independent party, and we have more tools and power at our disposal to do so. Done right, this might result in some healthy, but managed changes.
