Remembering Bob Monks (1933-2025): Pioneer of Activist Investing Who Transformed Corporate Governance

Shareholders and investors alike have heard of Bob Monks – total rich kid from Boston who could've just kicked back and enjoyed the good life. But nope! He decided to become the biggest pain in the neck for fat-cat CEOs across America instead.

Picture corporate America in the 1980s – people in power suits running companies like personal piggy banks while shareholders were basically told "shut up and take your dividends." Bob was like, "Yeah... that's not gonna work for me."

This guy had moxie. He actually took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal showing Sears' directors as "non-performing assets" – basically calling them useless to their faces! Can you imagine the spit-takes over morning coffee when those board members saw that?

In 1985, he started Institutional Shareholder Services (boring name, I know), but it was actually pretty radical – it gave big investors like pension funds a way to gang up and tell companies “we’re not gonna take it!” (a la Twisted Sister).

The best part? Bob wasn't some outsider. He was totally one of them – Harvard, Cambridge, rowing team, family money – but he turned around and used all that privilege to shake up the system. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you!

When other rich folks were busy buying yachts, Bob was writing books with titles like "Corpocracy" (which isn't even a real word – he just made it up to describe corporate greed). From his house on the Maine coast, he basically invented a whole new way of being a shareholder – one where you actually speak up instead of selling out.

Bottom line: Bob Monks was that rare breed – a troublemaker in a Brooks Brothers suit. And honestly, Wall Street is better off because this gentleman decided to stir the pot instead of just joining the country club and calling it a day.

#activism