"I think a lot more decisions are made on serendipity than people think. Things come across their radar screens and they jump at them."

“When a firm chooses to allocate its most valuable resources away from clients and to young stars, the economic consequences are real and visible.”

“Most of the time when these things go public... private-equity firms want to get the hell out of there. They want to monetize their investment and get their guys off the board, because they don't want to be caught in a conflict of interest.”

“Because the activists usually cash out their holdings shortly after their demands are accepted or rejected, the question remains whether most of them are committed to companies’ future success. The risk is significant that their initiatives can weaken a company’s competitive position, to the detriment of long-term shareholders, and the high-leverage financing structures they often propose may put companies in jeopardy in the event of an economic downturn.”