CommPRO Editorial Staff

Gottfried Shareholder Advisory LLC today announced its launch by veteran shareholder activism advisor Keith E. Gottfried. This boutique advisory firm will focus on advising public companies and their boards of directors with regards to shareholder activism preparedness and defense.

“After months of planning, I am thrilled to finally announce the launch of Gottfried Shareholder Advisory,” said Keith Gottfried. “As shareholder activism activity continues to rebound from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and with the SEC’s recent adoption of new rules mandating the use of universal proxy cards in contested director elections likely to be a game-changer for shareholder activism, I believe now is the optimal time to launch Gottfried Shareholder Advisory.”

About Keith E. Gottfried

Keith Gottfried is an experienced corporate advisor to public companies and their board of directors and previously led the shareholder activism defense practice at a large global law firm. Over the course of a career that spans close to 30 years, Keith has advised numerous public companies and their boards of directors on shareholder activism preparedness and response, including in connection with high-profile proxy contests, special meeting demands, consent solicitations, and withhold vote/vote no campaigns, as well as unsolicited takeover offers and negotiated and contested M&A situations.

Keith frequently publishes and presents, and is often quoted by the national business media, on shareholder activism trends and developments. Keith has also been a frequent contributor of shareholder activism thought leadership to the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance.Keith’s work with public companies and boards has been recognized on numerous occasions. In both 2018 and 2019, Keith was named by the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) to its prestigious list of Directorship 100 honorees, which recognizes the most influential people in the boardroom community, including directors, corporate governance experts, regulators, and advisors.

While Keith has spent most of his career at professional services firms, Keith has also held senior leadership roles in the private and public sectors. In 2005, Keith was nominated by President George W. Bush and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as the 19th general counsel of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. Prior to joining the George W. Bush Administration, Keith served in senior leadership roles at Borland Software Corporation, then a publicly traded, Nasdaq-listed company in California’s Silicon Valley. Keith initially joined Borland as its general counsel after serving as its outside M&A and activism defense counsel and, later, took on responsibility for its worldwide corporate affairs and government relations function. While an executive at Borland, Keith served on the board of directors of the Business Software Alliance, a trade association for the global software industry.Keith holds an M.B.A., with high honors, from Boston University's Questrom School of Business, a J.D., cum laude, from Boston University's School of Law, where he was an Edward F. Hennessey Distinguished Scholar of Law and a G. Joseph Tauro Scholar of Law, and a B.S. in Economics, concentrated in accounting, from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.Important InformationGottfried Shareholder Advisory LLC provides advisory / consulting services. It does not provide any legal advice or services. This press release is for informational purposes only and is not intended, and does not purport, to offer any professional or other advice. You should not rely on this press release as a source of any professional or other advice.

For more information, visit https://www.gottfriedshareholderadvisory.com.