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AdrianB1HNSource author
Lessons learnedExperience excerpt · English

I worked for a company where activist investors bought enough shares to have influence, then …

… I worked for a company where activist investors bought enough shares to have influence, then practically messed up with the company in a way that today, 10-15 years later, the company is a shadow of what it used to be - fell from top positions in Fortune 500, share price is lower in inflation-adjusted money, management is extremely politized and unprofessional, most professionals left or retired. I don't think this is what we want from SpaceX, in the end this is the company that moved the needle in space launches and cost per launch/kg, it's not a ketchup company that not too many people will cry about.

Original discussionNew York, California pension leaders oppose 'extreme' SpaceX control structure126 source comments · at import
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Octoth0rpeHN

> there are companies that are mostly an investment vehicle and companies that have a strong motivation to make changes in the world. And there are companies that are mostly an investment vehicle whose leaders spin their self-serving decisions as necessary to make changes in the world. Some of them might even be right! (that their decisions are better in the long run, and that ceding more control to shareholders would lead to better short term outcomes but far worse long term outcomes).

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lotsofpulpHN

> it should not be "I will buy shares and try to change the company". it should not be “I will go public and try to stop the public from exercising their rights as shareholders”...just stay private. Or, if those business owners want to retain their right to make all the decisions, they should structure the shares like Meta or Alphabet.

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aNoob7000HN

As investors for other people, the pension funds, have a fiduciary responsibility to ask questions. I don't care if Space X is changing the world or making potato chips for consumers. If you read the article, they have concerns about the governance structure of Space X and the ability of investors to question what the company is doing.

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