In an ideal world, the Securities and Exchange Commission sets a level playing field and corporate executives plan for the long term and activist investors place pressure on companies that fall short of reaching their goals. However, as outgoing SEC Commissioner Dan Gallagher said in a speech Tuesday, the world does not always meet the ideal goal. Unfortunately, “the current picture is bleak,” he said, “but there are glimmers of hope.”
Gallagher: Activist investing, in total, is neither good nor bad
Speaking on “Activism, Short-Termism, and the SEC” at Stanford Director’s College, the SEC commissioner perhaps best known for his


