AT&T Taken Hostage
If you want something done well, do it yourself. The most feared investor out there just bought another major stake in a blue-chip stock. He’s determined to leave his mark, forcing through what he believes is right.
No bungling business leaders are safe anymore from Elliott Management, spearheaded by Paul Singer, one of Wall Street’s most fearsome capitalists. He made headlines last year by invading French family business Pernod Ricard with a controlling, billion-dollar investment that allowed him to snatch the wheel. Keen to “unlock shareholder value,” he’s also gone in for eBay, Barnes & Noble, and AthenaHealth. Singer’s been around the block a few times, and his activist approach of backseat driving has made him big money.
Now, Elliott Management has AT&T in its crosshairs. AT&T is an old dog, but Singer still believes he can teach it a few new tricks. It’s a big fish in the market, and it’s been around since the very, very early days, now owning CNN, DirecTV, and most recently, WarnerMedia. That was a painstaking acquisition to slog over the line given the company was once broken up for being too big, but old habits die hard, and AT&T just can’t stop growing! Elliott Management’s mission is to wade in there, shed the excess baggage, and make things lean again so the stock price can break out.
Singer’s hard-line advice won’t win him any frie- “GREAT NEWS that an activist investor is now involved with AT&T! As the owner of VERY LOW RATINGS CNN, perhaps they will now put a stop to all the Fake News emanating from its non-credible anchors.” Oh, of course…
