Shareholder activism took a different shape during the first half (H1) of 2026, with investors relying more on negotiations and merger-related campaigns than public proxy battles, according to a new report from Diligent Market Intelligence (DMI).
The Proxy Season Review 2026, which DMI produced in association with Sodali & Co. and Sullivan & Cromwell, found that while traditional proxy contests declined, activists increasingly pushed companies to consider mergers and acquisitions, sought board seats through negotiated settlements, and focused campaigns on issues including artificial intelligence (AI), capital allocation, and board oversight.
Among the report’s findings, demands that companies pursue a sale increased by nearly 50 percent compared with the previous year. The report also found that activists overwhelmingly secured board representation through settlements rather than contested shareholder votes.
“The first half of 2026 was not quite a blockbuster proxy season, despite the subplots of media M&A and market volatility,” report editor Josh Black writes. “Instead, activists established a launchpad for future activity, mostly working collaboratively, taking more positions late in the proxy season, and showing the first signs of how the AI boom will influence their campaigns.”
According to the report, settlements remained the preferred outcome for both companies and activist investors, although negotiations generally took longer than they did a year earlier.
“There were still more settlements than contested votes, yet there was less of the immediate scramble that characterized 2025 following the tariff surprise, with the average time to reach a formal settlement stretching to 36 days from 16.6 days a year earlier,” Black wrote.
Activists secured 84 of 85 U.S. board seats through settlement, and just one seat at the ballot box, he added, noting “boards were willing to engage, activists prepared to negotiate, and both sides often had strong reasons to avoid the uncertainty of a full vote.”
The review also found that AI is becoming a larger factor in shareholder campaigns, influencing discussions around corporate oversight and executive compensation.
In addition, the report examined trends in CEO pay, shareholder votes on executive compensation, and regional activism across the United States, Europe, Asia, Canada, and Australasia.
The report also pointed to a changing regulatory environment in the U.S., where fewer shareholder proposals reached a vote during the first half of the year.
“The season also underscored how unsettled the shareholder proposal environment has become,” Black wrote. “The number of proposals to face a vote at U.S.-based companies fell sharply, with DMI recording 386 in the first half versus 456 a year earlier, as proponents shifted toward private negotiations, legal challenges and withhold campaigns after the SEC stepped back from its traditional no-action role.”
Also highlighted in the 38-page report are the season’s most significant activism campaigns, practical insights from leading advisers at Sodali & Co and Sullivan & Cromwell on preparing for an increasingly unpredictable activism landscape, and the latest trends in not only CEO pay, but also for say-on-pay voting and remuneration scrutiny.