Victor Posner

摘要

It was easy to be rude about Victor Posner. "Vulture" was one of the politer nouns applied to him. Mr Posner was a pioneer of the hostile takeover of a public company. He was dismissive of the convention previously observed that a takeover should have the agreement of the existing board. He would spot a company whose assets he judged were undervalued, gain control and milk it. Some bits would be sold off, others would be closed. Previously unconsidered treasures, such as the employees' pension fund, would be raided and reinvested in Mr Posner's other companies. As chief executive Mr Posner would draw a large salary. At one stage he controlled more than 40 companies said to be worth $4 billion and was reckoned to be one of the highest-paid men in the United States. Worried companies fearing a Posner raid sought to stop him. This was not proper business, they said; it was more like undeclared war. They set up defences against the aggressor. "Golden parachutes" were promised to managers of threatened companies, potentially increasing the cost of a takeover. "Poison pills" were schemes to issue extra shares, again designed to make a takeover more expensive. A "sandbag" was a device to gain time in the hope that a more accept- able company, a "white knight", would try to take over. But against Mr Posner's blitzkrieg the defences were no more use than the Maginot line.