{ "docId": "019dd923-622c-750b-8b9c-9ff1ba72342f", "docSlug": "7e68348228d4", "documentTitle": "Southwest Airlines (LUV)", "authorId": "02_Elliott_Management", "authorName": "John Pike and Bobby Xu", "documentKindSlug": "shareholder-letter", "documentKindLabel": "Shareholder letter", "sourceTypeSlug": "activist_investor", "sourceTypeLabel": "Activist investor", "presentationDate": "2024-08-26 00:00:00", "orientation": "portrait", "aspectRatio": 0.77272725, "pageNumber": 5, "pageCount": 10, "prevPage": 4, "nextPage": 6, "slideType": "closing_ask", "function": "closing_ask", "density": "overcrowded", "nDataPoints": 0, "notes": "This is the final page of a shareholder letter, serving as a call to action for shareholders to take control of the company's future.", "elementsJson": [ "paragraph" ], "metadataConfidence": 1, "imagePath": null, "slideHref": "/slides/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9c-9ff1ba72342f/5", "deckHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9c-9ff1ba72342f", "deckJsonHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9c-9ff1ba72342f.json", "deckAnchorHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9c-9ff1ba72342f#slide-5", "components": [ { "bbox": null, "kind": "callout", "text": "Southwest does not belong to Mr. Jordan and Mr. Kelly, but rather to its shareholders, a designation that importantly includes many of the Company’s employees.", "attrs": null, "subkind": null, "toolName": "Visual emphasis", "toolSlug": "visual-emphasis", "confidence": null, "componentId": "019dd953-14d7-73fd-9f54-a6e9d85b7217", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.1, "w": 0.6, "x": 0.11, "y": 0.73 }, "kind": "image", "text": "Signatures of John Pike and Bobby Xu", "attrs": null, "subkind": "illustration", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "c344cb29-248d-47dc-895c-e25d00a92984", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.02, "w": 0.24, "x": 0.38, "y": 0.96 }, "kind": "other", "text": "StrongerSouthwest.com", "attrs": null, "subkind": "unclassified", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "b41a9f60-2c11-46a2-b19d-2294f79fe0a9", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.15, "w": 0.78, "x": 0.11, "y": 0.48 }, "kind": "paragraph", "text": "As Southwest has already announced, we are meeting with the Company’s representatives on September 9, and we look forward to hearing their views on the topics we have raised in this letter. In the interim, we expect the Company will try to distract shareholders with its own unilateral half-measures and divert from real engagement with shareholders. If so, so be it. Nevertheless, we are hopeful that we will find individuals on the Board willing to look past the personal interests of Mr. Jordan and Mr. Kelly in favor of what is best for Southwest and its many other constituents.", "attrs": null, "subkind": "paragraph", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "22a451fa-b25e-4eae-b54d-7908bb8beef3", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.15, "w": 0.78, "x": 0.11, "y": 0.22 }, "kind": "paragraph", "text": "We are seeking to engage with Southwest to create a better future for the Company, not for a fight. Fighting is a distraction from the business of creating value for shareholders, and our track record reflects that we much prefer working collaboratively with companies to drive value-enhancing change over engaging in proxy fights. If we end up having to nominate directors to the Board of Southwest and take this contest all the way to a special meeting, then it will be the first time we have had to conduct such a contest in the United States in more than seven years.", "attrs": null, "subkind": "paragraph", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "2b0cb62d-8e07-4c64-8feb-1e5ed8ba4c41", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.05, "w": 0.78, "x": 0.11, "y": 0.64 }, "kind": "paragraph", "text": "But in the absence of these leaders rising to the occasion, we are convinced the next step will be for you, Southwest’s owners, to have a direct say in your Company’s future.", "attrs": null, "subkind": "paragraph", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "3109a590-4c28-4ea4-83a0-88d4a23a57f9", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.05, "w": 0.6, "x": 0.11, "y": 0.83 }, "kind": "paragraph", "text": "John Pike, Partner; Bobby Xu, Portfolio Manager", "attrs": null, "subkind": "paragraph", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "48007210-d322-43f1-8dd2-2567dad177a9", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.09, "w": 0.78, "x": 0.11, "y": 0.38 }, "kind": "paragraph", "text": "However, when we encounter corporate executives who believe that the companies they run are their personal fiefdoms and that they are entitled to run them – and to be paid handsomely to run them – unchallenged for as long as they want, no matter what results they deliver, then we are more than happy to provide a voice for those whose interests are being poorly served.", "attrs": null, "subkind": "paragraph", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "5bf9a08c-fc23-4589-8acd-2d3e0fbe9ade", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.02, "w": 0.1, "x": 0.11, "y": 0.7 }, "kind": "paragraph", "text": "Sincerely,", "attrs": null, "subkind": "paragraph", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "910d3d42-9716-4a4f-a3b3-5436fff62f56", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.12, "w": 0.78, "x": 0.11, "y": 0.09 }, "kind": "paragraph", "text": "Southwest is a storied American company that deserves to have the best stewards that its Board can possibly provide. It is also a public company, accountable to its owners. It is not an absolute monarchy. 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