A sharp and illuminating history of one of capitalism’s longest-running tensions—the conflicts of interest among public company directors, managers, and shareholders—told through original letters from some of our most legendary and controversial investors and activists.

Disputes between shareholders and major corporations make daily headlines. But the struggle between management and those who own stock has been going on for nearly a century. Mixing never-before-published original letters from Wall Street icons—including Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett, Ross Perot, Carl Icahn, and Daniel Loeb—with masterful scholarship and professional insight, Dear Chairman traces the rise of shareholder activism from the 1920s to today, and provides an invaluable and unprecedented perspective on what it means to be a public company, including how they work and who is really in control.

Gramm analyzes different eras and pivotal boardroom battles from the last century to understand the factors that have caused shareholders and management to collide. Throughout he uses the letters to show how investors interact with directors and managers, how they think about their target companies, and how they plan to profit. Each is a fascinating example of capitalism at work told through the entertaining voices of its most colorful, influential participants.

A hedge fund manager and an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School, Gramm has observed public companies that are poorly run, and some that willfully disenfranchise their shareholders. He pays tribute to the ingenuity of public company investors, but also exposes examples of shareholder activism at its very worst. Ultimately, he provides a thorough, much-needed understanding of the public company–shareholder relationship for investors, managers, and everyone concerned with the future of capitalism.

Advance Praise for Dear Chairman

“Public companies face the high standards of the marketplace: fill a need, grow, and remember always that you are the trustee of your stockholders’ money. Dear Chairman is a fascinating and colorful history of what resulted when that was occasionally forgotten or ignored. It should be required reading for anyone who wants to participate in our great ownership system, as investor or manager.”—Charles R. Schwab, chairman, the Charles Schwab Corporation

“Jeff Gramm’s fascinating archaeology of shareholder activism lays bare the foundation upon which today’s turbulent, performance-oriented stock market stands. Dear Chairman is an important, interesting, and insightful history.”—Frederick W. Smith, chairman and CEO, FedEx Corporation

“When major shareholders get actively involved, how do they think about companies and their value? Jeff Gramm breaks new ground in a book which is exciting, wise, well written, and, above all else, instructive and useful.”—Tyler Cowen, professor of economics, George Mason University, and New York Times bestselling author of The Great Stagnation

“This is a rare book, masterful in both technical understanding and in narrative.”—Amity Shlaes, author of Coolidge and The Forgotten Man

“Jeff Gramm has a refreshing approach to the generations-long conflict between entrenched corporate management and shareholder activists. He illustrates this seemingly never-ending struggle for corporate control by examining specific well-known and surprisingly interesting examples, including correspondence ranging from the fabled Benjamin Graham to John D. Rockefeller Jr. in 1927, from Ross Perot to General Motors CEO Roger B. Smith in 1985, and more. Dear Chairman is an engaging and worthwhile read.”—Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the board of governors, Federal Reserve System

A sharp and illuminating history of one of capitalism's longest running tensions-the conflicts of interest among public company directors, managers, and shareholders-told through entertaining case studies and original letters from some of our most legendary and controversial investors and activists. Recent disputes between shareholders and major corporations, including Apple and DuPont, have made headlines. But the struggle between management and those who own stock has been going on for nearly a century. Mixing never-before-published and rare, original letters from Wall Street icons-including Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett, Ross Perot, Carl Icahn, and Daniel Loeb-with masterful scholarship and professional insight, Dear Chairman traces the rise in shareholder activism from the 1920s to today, and provides an invaluable and unprecedented perspective on what it means to be a public company, including how they work and who is really in control. Jeff Gramm analyzes different eras and pivotal boardroom battles from the last century to understand the factors that have caused shareholders and management to collide. Throughout, he uses the letters to show how investors interact with directors and managers, how they think about their target companies, and how they plan to profit. Each is a fascinating example of capitalism at work told through the voices of its most colorful, influential participants. A hedge fund manager and an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School, Gramm has spent as much time evaluating CEOs and directors as he has trying to understand and value businesses. He has seen public companies that are poorly run, and some that willfully disenfranchise their shareholders. While he pays tribute to the ingenuity of public company investors, Gramm also exposes examples of shareholder activism at its very worst, when hedge funds engineer stealthy land-grabs at the expense of a company's long term prospects. Ultimately, he provides a thorough, much-needed understanding of the public company/shareholder relationship for investors, managers, and everyone concerned with the future of capitalism.