Raiders or saviors? The evidence on six controversial investors

Clifford G. Holderness, Dennis P. Sheehan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

179 Scopus citations

Abstract

Carl Icahn, Irwin Jacobs, Carl Lindner, David Murdock, Victor Posner, and the late Charles Bluhdorn are usually portrayed as corporate 'raiders'. The evidence here, however, shows that between 1977 and 1982 when it was first announced that they had purchased stock in a given firm, stock prices on average increased significantly. The investors' activities in target firms for the two years following the initial stock purchase are likewise inconsistent with 'raiding'. We discuss two hypotheses that are consistent with the evidence: first, these investors improve the management of target firms; second, they are systematically able to identify under-priced stocks.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)555
Number of pages1
JournalJournal of Financial Economics
Volume14
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1985

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Accounting
  • Finance
  • Economics and Econometrics
  • Strategy and Management

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