Carl Icahn plans corporate governance lobbying group


With financial institutions imploding in a wave of writedowns -- and executives who delivered mind-bogglingly bad performance walking away from the wreckage with millions -- Carl Icahn is seizing on the current environment to push his agenda on corporate governance reform.

Icahn announced today that he is forming United Shareholders, a lobbying group, to push for legislative reform that would outlaw shareholder-unfriendly corporate bylaws like poison pills and staggered boards.

Lobbyists get a lot of bad press, but this sounds like one effort that will actually be promoting the interests of ordinary investors. In recent months, we've seen the dangers of bad governance and poorly-aligned pay packages that induce executives to take excessive risks.

It seems that Icahn, who has spent most of his life building one of the largest fortunes in the world, is now looking out for his legacy. If Icahn's lobbying and blogging efforts have any effect on the way companies are run, it will be a good one.
Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA+51.3112,852.54
NASDAQ+18.422,922.30
S&P 500+6.611,349.25

Last updated: February 13, 2012: 11:27 AM

Hot Stocks

General Electric

19.025+0.15(+0.79)

Alcoa

10.365+0.075(+0.73)

Apple Inc

499.99+6.57(+1.33)

Google Inc 'A'

612.55+6.64(+1.10)

Bank of America

8.265+0.195(+2.42)

Wal-Mart Stores

61.98+0.08(+0.13)

Exxon Mobil Corp

84.12+0.32(+0.38)

Ford

12.535+0.095(+0.76)

Citigroup

33.45+0.525(+1.59)

IBM

192.36-0.06(-0.03)

Yahoo

16.07-0.07(-0.43)

Starbucks

49.17+0.35(+0.72)

Microsoft

30.55+0.055(+0.18)

Home Depot

45.72+0.39(+0.86)

DailyFinance Headlines

Benzinga Headlines

TheFlyOnTheWall.com Headlines

BioHealth Investor Headlines

WalletPop Headlines

DailyFinance BlackBerry App

My Portfolios

Track your stocks here!

Find out why more people track their portfolios on AOL Money & Finance then anywhere else.

BloggingStocks Partners

More from AOL Money & Finance

BioHealth Investor Headlines

Page Loaded in 1329150437257 ms.