Activists Take On More Campaigns While Avoiding Proxy Fights

Carmen Lu, partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, and Shaun Mathew, partner and head of shareholder activism and hostile takeover defense at Kirkland & Ellis, join Dani Burger  on "Bloomberg Deals." Campaigns by activist investors have hit an all-time high this year even as the portion of them leading to proxy battles continues to fall. The number of activist campaigns during the first six months of 2026 increased 20% from the same period last year to 184, a record that is 38% above the five-year-average, according to a report by Lazard.