Board Focus: Hidden, But Still Happeing, Activist Campaigns

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For all the volatility on board-meeting agendas these days, some directors got a reprieve in the first half of this year: Global activist campaigns were down 32% year-over-year in the second quarter.

Or so they thought.

Fewer than 60 campaigns were launched in the second quarter, according to Barclays, and overall campaigns were down 12% year to date. But board experts say that this doesn’t mean battles weren’t launched—just that they happened behind closed doors. “Just because these battles aren’t playing out in public, on the front pages, doesn’t mean they’re not going on in the background,” says Peter McDermott, senior client partner in Korn Ferry’s Global Corporate Affairs and IR practice.

Indeed, nearly half of settlements in the US so far this year came without a prior public campaign announcement. As Barclays noted, activists seemed to have more success in private negotiations. For both directors and activists, private fights can have an advantage over public ones: They may promote more constructive, less adversarial dialogue that spurs flexible outcomes, because there’s no risk of losing face or need to rally public support—for either side. “Many of them can be successfully resolved without you or me knowing about it,” McDermott says.

And contrary to popular belief, many activists aren’t hostile; they’re willing to work together with boards to address their questions or concerns. “Those are the campaigns people rarely ever hear about, but they represent a decent number of campaigns,” says Tierney Remick, vice chairman and co-leader of Korn Ferry’s Global Board and CEO Services practice. 

To be sure, economic and geopolitical volatility have created plenty of fodder for activists to grumble about. Public campaigns in the first half of 2025 primarily focused on board changes, mergers and acquisitions, and strategy objectives. In addition, record CEO turnover has affected activism, prompting deeper scrutiny of new management. “When you see a successful campaign in one area, it often creates a ripple effect,” McDermott says.

For her part, Sarah Oliva, a principal in Korn Ferry's Board Effectiveness practice, says smart boards are being proactive, becoming more mindful about vulnerabilities in their company as well on the board itself. "There is a heightened focus on director skillsets from institutional investors," she says, adding that firms should make clear disclosures linking how directors' skills tie to firm strategy.

As political and regulatory pressures continue, experts expect public activism campaigns to pick up, especially given all the turmoil of late, which has created business uncertainty and discontent. The longer there’s economic uncertainty, market swings and various opinions coming from the White House, experts say, the more ammunition activists will have. “Some businesses will simply have to be sold or broken apart because tariffs will cripple their potential opportunity,” Remick says. “Others may fare better, given their global reach and ability to balance loss in one market with gains in another.”

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