Wildest Campaigns of 2026

Despite a fresh wave of market volatility, shareholder activism proved remarkably resilient in the first half of 2026, with activity holding steady at H1 2025 levels.

M&A continued to build momentum as a leu lever for activists with many also more willing to stand in the way of deals they viewed as undervalued or poorly timed. Outside of dealmaking, AI also found its place in the activist playbook with key technology brands pressed on integration and cost rationalization.

Settlements provided the only real path to the boardroom with few fights going the whole way to a vote as boards and activists worked to find common ground uncertain markets.

The Diligent Market Intelligence editorial team tracked the season’s defining contests. Here are our picks for the wildest:

1. Paramount outplays Netflix in Warner Bros. Siege

Warner Bros. Discovery quickly became one of the season’s defining M&A battlegrounds as Netflix and Paramount Skydance locked horns in a fight for the media giant. Paramount ultimately prevailed with an enormous  all-cash bid that included the company’s television channels, which Netflix planned to exclude.

The high-stakes sale unsettled investors. Pentwater Capital Management threatened to withhold support for directors if Warner failed to engage with Paramount, while Paramount raised the prospect of a proxy fight and unveiled plans to solicit against the approval of the competing Netflix transaction.

Netflix later sweetened its proposal into an all-cash offer, only for Paramount to respond with a ticking fee for shareholders. Ancora Advisors then said it was considering its own proxy contest over Warner’s lack of engagement.

After one more sweetened offer in late February from Paramount, Netflix declared itself out of the race and paved the way for the storied media group to be acquired by David Ellison’s media company.

And while the deal passed with overwhelming support at the April 23 special meeting, Warner Bros’ $1.4 billion golden parachutes package was rejected with 82% opposition.  Pay dissent lingered with the remuneration plan facing 84% opposition at the company’s June annual meeting.

2. Founder returns to Lululemon with product-first  plan to ‘regain cool’

Covered in over a dozen articles on DMI’s newswire in H1, Lululemon Athletica’s clash with its founder and ex-CEO Chip Wilson ended in May when both parties arrived at a settlement that saw the comeback activist walk away from a proxy contest in exchange for two board seats.

The monthslong campaign targeting the Canadian retailer was one of many founder-led efforts this season. Wilson, who founded Lululemon in 1998 and owns around 8% of the shares, had argued that the activewear company had been “losing its soul” due to an alleged disinterest in product development while pointing to controversies linked to the quality of its ultra sheer “Get Low” leggings as well as a 2024 scandal involving the design of its Breeze through range. Wilson, who left the board in 2015, had insisted that his slate would foster a creative culture at the Vancouver based yoga pants maker and help it ‘‘regain its cool.’’ Prior to inking the deal, Lululemon made several leadership changes including the naming of Nike executive Heidi O’Neill as its new CEO, who will take up the helm from Calvin McDonald in September.

3. STAAR-Alcon merger collapses as Broadwood leads shareholder rebellion

Another heated M&A battle emerged at STAAR Surgical as Broadwood Capital prevailed in its bid to derail the medical device maker’s planned combination with Swiss peer Alcon in a deal that had been valued at around $1.5 billion when rolled out in August 2025. The deal didn’t land with a large cross-section of the investor base and Broadwood spearheaded a campaign that pointed to STAAR’s sound prospects “with sufficient cash, strong demand, new products ready to be launched.” The 30% shareholder quickly ramped up support with Yunqi Capital and STAAR ex-CEO David Bailey also coming out against and Defender Capital and California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) following. Proxy advisors Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis had also recommended against. By December, Broadwood had moved to target three of the U.S. eye lens maker’s directors. After several postponements and a sweetened bid, the January 6 special meeting saw the sale collapse.  A week later, STAAR settled with Broadwood, with the deal reshaping the board and also seeing the departure of both the CEO and chair.

4. BP’s climate clash claims another chair

BP returned to the wildest list this season with climate governance once again at the center of the turmoil and another chair left exposed. At its April annual meeting, BP Chair Albert Manifold – less than a year into the role – faced 19% opposition. The vote had followed a tumultuous period after the energy giant had refused to feature a climate proposal from Follow This on its ballot and had also moved to rescind two legacy resolutions linked to company-specific climate disclosures. To many investors, the moves were seen to undercut shareholder rights. Railpen and Legal & General Investment Management were among those to cast a protest vote on the chair while proxy advisors had flagged concern over “transparency, shareholder communication and responsiveness.” Almost one month after the meeting, BP removed Manifold,  citing concerns over governance standards, oversight  and conduct.

4. BP’s climate clash claims another chair

BP returned to the wildest list this season with climate governance once again at the center of the turmoil and another chair left exposed. At its April annual meeting, BP Chair Albert Manifold – less than a year into the role – faced 19% opposition. The vote had followed a tumultuous period after the energy giant had refused to feature a climate proposal from Follow This on its ballot and had also moved to rescind two legacy resolutions linked to company-specific climate disclosures. To many investors, the moves were seen to undercut shareholder rights. Railpen and Legal & General Investment Management were among those to cast a protest vote on the chair while proxy advisors had flagged concern over “transparency, shareholder communication and responsiveness.” Almost one month after the meeting, BP removed Manifold,  citing concerns over governance standards, oversight  and conduct.

5. Starboard rolls out AI playbook in push for integration at Tripadvisor

In one of the first campaigns to see AI emerge as the central focus of an activist thesis, Starboard Value sought control of the board of Tripadvisor. The dissident, which had been pushing for change at the company since mid2025, warned that the pace of change was unacceptable in an environment where speed matters. The travel review platform had earlier drawn Palliser Capital’s call for a strategic review. In March, just over a month after making its board bid public, Jeff Smith’s fund reached a cooperation agreement that saw the U.S.-based travel company add four directors. Snap was another company to face AI-focused activist pressure this season with Irenic Capital Management pressing the messaging platform to put the technology at the core of cost rationalization and monetization enhancements.

Honorable mentions

Not every campaign that defined the first half made the top five, but several still stood out for the twists they delivered across markets.

In Asia, Young Poong and ally MBK Partners bolstered their presence on the board of Korea Zinc but with the chair maintaining his grip with nine director seats. Choi Yunbeom’s reelection had hit several last-minute headwinds after ISS recommended a vote against, followed by a decision by South Korea’s National Pension Service, which holds 5.2% of Korea Zinc, to abstain. The dissidents have questioned plans to build a critical minerals refinery in Tennessee – that will be funded largely by Washington – arguing that it would position the U.S. as a “white knight,” rather than serving the company’s commercial interests.

Australia also delivered. In June, Elliott Management pressed Northern Star Resources on a sale, arguing the miner had been weighed down by operational missteps, weak performance and a long-overdue CEO exit. By early July, the miner had named Glencore top executive Suresh Vadnagra as its new CEO while also replacing the chair. But the wilder fight came at Australian financial services provider Humm where a months-long clash with Raper Capital and Collins Street Value erupted over the company’s handling of Credit Corp’s AU$385 million takeover approach. After the Australian Takeovers Panel criticized Humm over unresolved conflict concerns in its earlier assessment of the bid, the company emerged from a May meeting with a broad governance reset that included the exit of former Chair Andrew Abercrombie and the appointment of two new directors under a deal with the activist duo.

In the U.K., Saba Capital Management also notched a notable victory by taking control of the board of Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust after a long-running campaign and a dispute around the closed-end fund’s discounted NAV, as well as its stake in Elon Musk’s SpaceX. In the U.S., Six Flags Entertainment earned an honorable mention of its own after Jana Partners disclosed a partnership with NFL star Travis Kelce, adding celebrity firepower to the growing list of investors that had circled the theme-park operator.

Beyond board bids and M&A, however, the season also served up many heated battles hooked on governance and shareholder rights with Exxon Mobil’s move to Texas driving 30% opposition from the votes cast at its May AGM, while a shareholder proposal seeking changes to its controversial retail voting program secured almost 25% backing.