What is an activist? According to Merriam Webster, the word “an activist” means “one who peacefully attempts to exercise his rights of freedom of expression, conscience, speech, and action.” Activism includes many activities aimed at social change. Social change is a broad term that includes many types of reforms, such as labor and workplace organizing, civil rights, and other issues that affect the rights of people in society. Activist can also refer to political activists, people who use manipulative tactics to bring about change.

Why should we call ourselves “activists”? We are all naturally activists at heart; we have felt the concern and pain of others when they are affected by policies, businesses, industries, racial, gender, religious, and other prejudices. Many have taken to the streets in peaceful demonstrations to express their opinions. Some have decided to take on physical confrontation by participating in civil disobedience or other protest actions.

So what is an activist investor? Activists are private investors who participate in shares transactions for their own private gain. Some are sophisticated investors who are concerned about specific industries or stock markets. Some are regular, everyday investors who want to be informed about their stocks’ performance. Still others belong to institutions such as professional organizations, investment funds, and investment securities firms who offer specialized stock trading and investment advice to their members, clients, and other investors.

What are some activist investor tactics? Activists can use several different types of tactic to try to pressure corporations to change their policy positions or management policies. They may call on selected stockholders to initiate or sponsor a shareholder resolution or petition asking a corporation to address a problem. Alternatively, activists may choose to target a company for particular reasons. For example, they may be concerned about the treatment of workers at a corporation or the environment or poverty.

Activist shareholder resolutions are most commonly passed and supported by ordinary or majority shareholders (at least 60 percent of the total voting power). When a shareholder wants a company to do something specific, such as eliminating an emissions facility, he must propose the idea to other shareholders, who will also need to pass a similar resolution. If two or more shareholders have determined that a corporation should do this or that, then all shareholders must sign a petition backing the proposition. The company must respond in kind or face a shareholder lawsuit.

Activist shareholders are also used to pressure large companies to improve their social and environmental practices. One of the most famous cases was brought by environmentalist billionaire environmentalist Paul Vandersloot, who successfully pushed Apple to start using reusable electronics. agency bought a majority stake in the company and began a lengthy and costly battle against the company to increase his equity stake. The result: Apple stopped using plastic in its products.

Activist shareholder lawsuits are also used to pressure publicly traded corporations to reduce their investments in certain industries or activities. Some individual activist investors have made controversial statements that have caused companies to withdraw their investments. In one case, a group of individual activists tried to force a prominent company to remove a product it was tied to, after which the company’s stock price tumbled. Individual investors are sometimes involved in these actions because they believe they can make more money if the corporation they own goes under. Some individuals have made hundreds of millions of dollars by simply buying shares of a corporation and then selling them for a profit when it loses its value.

There are two major types of activist investments. The first type of investment is made on behalf of individual companies or brands, and the second type is made on behalf of a particular cause. For example, shareholders who bought shares of Nestle, a food company, so that they could donate money to charities, would be classified as an activist investor. The third point of difference between NASDAQ and NYSE is that the latter does not offer the same incentives to individual businesses and brands.