As Paul Singer’s Elliott Management hedge fund takes aim at AT&T, it’s time to take on vulture capitalists that hollow out Main Street.
Hedge fund Elliott Management, founded by Paul Singer, has launched a campaign against AT&T arguing for an overhaul of the company to activate “the extraordinary value opportunity realizable at AT&T today,” largely by cutting costs, laying off workers, divesting assets and extracting cash for shareholders. This predatory approach to pumping up AT&T’s stock price would hollow out a major U.S. employer and critical provider of broadband and wireless services.
We estimate that more than 30,000 family-supporting jobs will be at risk of elimination or a reduction in wages and benefits if AT&T’s leadership adopts these proposals.
CWA opposes Elliott Management’s agenda at AT&T and rejects hedge fund profiteering.
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) has taken a strong stance against Elliott’s agenda:
The week Elliott Management launched its campaign against AT&T, CWA released a statement condemning Elliott’s out-dated corporate raider tactics.
CWA sent a letter to the AT&T board of directors outlining the harmful and short-sighted nature of Elliott’s proposal and urging the board to reject it and chart a more constructive path forward. The letter was also mailed to the top 100 shareholders of AT&T and distributed through the SEC EDGAR system online.
- CWA sent a letter to the members of Business Roundtable calling for rejection of Elliott’s attack on AT&T and adherence to the principles of inclusive prosperity articulated in its updated “Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation.”
Six Business Roundtable members who signed the Statement are important shareholders in AT&T - controlling over 16% of shares in contrast to Elliott Management’s stake of less than 1%.
Two members of Business Roundtable - AT&T Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President Randall Stephenson and KeyCorp Chairman and Chief Executive Beth Mooney - sit on AT&T’s Board of Directors.