Hypothetically, would it be possible for a person to buy controlling interest in a publicly traded company?

Question

for the sole purpose of selling it off bit by bit and terminating every employee, simply because the company's customer service was rude to him when he called to ask what time they opened? What about if he was fired from a custodial position with the company. Payback's a pain, huh?

Oh, wait. What if he were fired from a different company due to his reaction to sexual harrassment against him by another employee... could he track that other employee down time after time so he could buy the company she worked for then have her fired from every job she has for the rest of her life, thus giving her an employment record so poor that eventually no company would even hire her in the first place?

Lots of fabulous answers for my silly question. Wow! I think I'll stick to reality now, since foolishness is costing me precious Yahoo! points. Speaking of drugs, anybody got any Hostess products they can spare?

Answer 1

Hostile takeovers are one thing. But payback, tracking an employee, sexual harassment?

They have people that you can talk to and drugs that help with this sort of thing.

Answer 2

There are all sorts of SEC rules and regulations that we need not get into here related to purchasing stock and attempting to get a controlling interest (or collecting funds to take over the business, either hostile or not).

But once you get a business, you have a fiduciary duty to minority shareholders. Since the entity is publicly traded, and there's a definite market value of the shares, it's not so bad, but if you do things, as a controlling stockholder, to frustrate their ownership interests or act against the company's best interest, you may also be subject to many "derivative" lawsuits for breach of fiduciary duties.

Probably not worth it. :)

Answer 3

This has happened but not necessarily for the reasons you outlined. About 20 years ago, Malcolm Beazer of England bought controlling interest in Koppers Company of Pittsburgh, PA because he wanted their home building division.
Mr. Beazer broke up Koppers, sold assets, sold divisions to spin off owners. He eventually bankrupted himself in the process.
It was a hostile takeover, and no one at Koppers could stop him or convince him that his was not a good idea. Live and learn, it is said.

Answer 4

Theoretically you could, but you would have to file a notice of your intent to buy controlling interest with the SEC and even then if you used to work for the company you are pissed at I would guess you wouldn't have the Capital to pull it off. You would also have to follow employment laws when terminating employees.

Answer 5

Unless you have several million dollars lying around under your mattress, it won't happen. You need lots of moola to buy controlling interest in an already public company.. and only if the owners and the board are willing to sell.

Answer 6

and you factor out precisely why government regulation is mandatory. If a company is in corporation just to make funds, without different attention it may and could do harm to the electorate. this is the job of the government to guard this is electorate. nonetheless that's long forgotten, in the unique concept of corporation, area of the requirement of a company grew to become into to grant a service. in the event that they did not exhibit that they'd grant service, the form grew to become into denied. could you be happy if the corporation made funds via destroying our surroundings, killing human beings or poisoning our nutrition grant? you spot. earnings should not be the only reason! The concept that a company would desire to purely be answerable to this is share holders is a ill, ill concept!