DISSENT ON WALL STREET: 1/4: Fearless: Wilma Soss and America's Forgotten Investor Movement by Robert E. Wright (Author), Janice Traflet (Author)
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 24 December 2023
⏱️ 12 minutes
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Summary
by Robert E. Wright (Author), Janice Traflet (Author)
https://www.amazon.com/Fearless-Americas-Forgotten-Investor-Movement/dp/1958682306
Shareholder activist Wilma Soss rocketed to fame in the 1950s fighting for the rights of the individual investor. But over the years, her legacy was almost forgotten.
Based on archival documents, this is the true story of how a disparate group of activist investors-from a PR star to a Holocaust survivor-found each other and became the advocates Fortune 500 management loved to hate.
Soss and her band of activists, including the incomparable Evelyn Y. Davis, leveraged the media to promote the rights of small shareholders. The idea was simple: buy one share of stock to gain access to shareholder meetings and remind management whom they really serve.
These "corporate gadflies" were determined to speak their minds, even if it meant bringing their own megaphones or being dragged out of public meetings. But their message was undeniable, and ultimately changed corporate America for the better. Increased opportunities in the workplace, improved shareholder voting rights and greater corporate transparency were just some of the reforms Wilma Soss and her Federation kicked off in the post-war era.
If you're looking for the intellectual heritage of 2021's WallStreetBets phenomenon or the reason Fearless Girl stands as a symbol of American optimism today, look no further than the life, times and efforts of the fearless shareholder activist, Wilma Soss.
1940S LINCOLN ZEPHYR
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| 0:50.8 | PPL managed lotteries on behalf of the good causes 18 plus conditions apply play responsibly not available in Northern Ireland. This is CBS I on the world. Here's John Bachelor. It is 1947 Hoboken, New Jersey, the Union Club, the corner Broadway and Rector Street, a meeting of the US Steel Board with the stockholders |
| 1:22.3 | represented by very few people scattered across the room. |
| 1:26.3 | This is a gritty part of Hoboken, New Jersey, I learned in a new book. Fearless, Wilma |
| 1:31.8 | Sauce and America's Forgotten Investor Movement. |
| 1:35.0 | I welcome Professor Janice Traflin and her colleague Robert Wright, co-author, |
| 1:42.0 | introduce me into this meeting and what we're going to learn about |
| 1:46.3 | a young person at the time, she's 47 years old, Wilma Sauce, an inspiration to everyone who wants to confront power in the same room. |
| 1:59.0 | Professor, a very good day to you, thank you. |
| 2:02.0 | Wilma Sauce at this point has been to the a very good day to you thank you. |
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