Before Ouster, Arconic C.E.O. Accused Hedge Fund Founder of Wild Antics
ByIn the sleepy world of corporate governance, allegations of extortion are not exactly commonplace. But one of the most contentious showdowns between an activist hedge fund and a public company just got bizarre.
When Klaus Kleinfeld stepped down as the chairman and chief executive of Arconic on Monday, the company said his departure was for showing “poor judgment” in sending a letter to the big hedge fund that had been calling for his ouster.
As it turns out, the letter in question was quite a bit stranger than that.
The letter that Mr. Kleinfeld sent to Paul E. Singer, the billionaire founder of Elliott Management, on April 11 made elliptical references to the investor’s 2006 trip to the World Cup soccer championship in Berlin and insinuated knowledge of “the great time” that Mr. Singer had…
Before Ouster, Arconic C.E.O. Accused Hedge Fund Founder of Wild Antics
