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Shareholder activists are shareholders of companies who bring about change within or for a corporation.These changes span a vast range, from environmental concerns to governance to profit distribution to the internal culture and business model of a company.

Understanding a Shareholder ActivistShareholder activism is a way that shareholders can influence a corporation's behavior by exercising their rights as partial owners. Classes of shares allow for distinct voting privileges, in addition to dividend entitlements.While minority shareholders don't run the day-to-day operations, several ways exist for them to influence a company’s board of directors and executive management actions. These methods can range from dialogue with managers to formal proposals, which are voted on by all shareholders at a company's annual meeting.Shareholder activists also employ a variety of offensive tactics to force changes. For example, they might make strategic use of media channels in order to publicize their demands and prompt greater pressure from other shareholders. They may also threaten companies with lawsuits if they are not allowed to have their say.Some of the issues addressed by shareholder activists are for social change, requiring divestment from politically sensitive parts of the world, for example, greater support of workers' rights (sweatshops) and/or more accountability for environmental degradation.But the term can also refer to investors who believe that a company's management is doing a poor job. This class of activist investors often attempts to gain control of the company and replace management or force a major corporate change.