In the second edition of its Global Activism Report (complimentary download), Georgeson finds that while shareholder activism declined globally in 2025, North America remained the world's most active market for activist campaigns, with “activist campaign” defined as a public demand made by a shareholder to a publicly listed company (excluding shareholder proposals on ESG topics).
Across North America, activist investors continued to focus primarily on the removal and appointment of leaders during 2025. More than 41% of campaigns aimed to gain board seats or appoint new C-suite executives, while 22% sought to remove existing board members or senior leaders. Activists achieved notable success, with more than 56% of campaigns at large-cap companies resulting in activists gaining board seats, through the replacement of a current board member or the addition of a board seat to accommodate activist nominees.
In the US, campaigns increasingly targeted smaller companies with market caps below $2 billion (small-, micro-, and nano-cap companies), accounting for 57% of all activist campaigns during 2025, while activism against large-cap companies declined.
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This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!