Activist investors had busiest quarter ever, launching 61 campaigns

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By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Activist investors who push companies for operational changes and management shake-ups launched a record number of attacks on global corporations in the third quarter and won more board seats and settlements, new data from Barclays show.

There were 61 new campaigns in July, August and September, marking an increase from the second quarter when 60 campaigns were launched and a dramatic jump from a year ago when activists launched 36 fights. They also signal a busy rest of the year when more records may be shattered.     

While the summer months are normally slower for activist investors, partly because companies’ nomination windows don’t open until much later in the year, blue-chip investors and newcomers alike accelerated demands for improvements after turbulence earlier in the year.

“No summer doldrums in 2025,” said Jim Rossman, global head of shareholder advisory at Barclays. “Activism surged to a record high in the third quarter, driven by a 90% quarter-over-quarter increase in the United States.” 

When markets tumbled amid fears of President Donald Trump’s tariffs and tax policies, activists established toehold investments in new companies and prepared campaigns.

Then during the third quarter, they moved ahead. Elliott Investment Management targeted beverage and snacks maker PepsiCo while Ancora Holdings went after railroad operator CSX and Sachem Head Capital Management pushed for changes at food distributor Performance Food.

At the same time companies already facing activist pressure announced sweeping changes, possibly meeting their demands or getting ahead of them to forestall a possible board fight.

Railroad operator Norfolk Southern agreed to be acquired by Union Pacific, consumer healthcare company Kenvue replaced its chief executive and launched a strategic review, and oil giant BP added a new director and divested two businesses.

The data, which will be released to Barclays clients later on Wednesday, show that activists mounted 191 campaigns, targeting 178 companies (some companies were targeted by more than one activist) so far this year. This year has already been the most active one through the third quarter and is on track to beat the 244 campaigns in 2024 and possibly top the industry record of 249 campaigns in 2018.

Activists won 98 board seats so far this year, marking a 17% increase from a year ago as settlements in the U.S. surged nearly 50%.

“With the total number of campaigns in 2025 (year to date) now standing at 191, and robust levels of activism anticipated in the fourth quarter, we are forecasting 2025 to eclipse 2018 as the busiest year ever for activist campaigns,” Rossman said.

Among the blue-chip activists, Elliott was the busiest, launching nine campaigns in the quarter, bringing its year-to-date total to 15. In the first three quarters of the year, it won 16 board seats.

One noticeable consequence of activist campaigns has been the jump in chief executive departures, with the data showing there have been 25 CEO resignations already this year, close to last year’s record of 27 departures.

This week Joe Hinrichs was replaced as CEO at CSX. Ancora had criticized him for failing to find a merger partner and hinted that it might launch a proxy fight to try to remove him.

Apart from making changes to the board, demands for M&A were the key objective for global campaigns and the second most requested change in U.S. campaigns. Yet the data also show that M&A demands are trending below their four-year average of 45%, likely because the M&A markets had been stalled and are only now reviving.

(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Mark Porter)