Glass Lewis endorses 6 Ancora nominees

Activist investor Ancora received a powerful endorsement in its efforts to secure a board change and to oust Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw on Monday, when proxy advisory Glass Lewis recommended the railroad’s shareholders vote for 6 of Ancora’s board nominees.

“We believe Ancora has presented a compelling case for supporting a substantial overhaul of the Company’s current leadership,” Glass Lewis said in its report.

The recommendations for the activist nominees, rare at a company of NSC’s size and in its industry, could influence how thousands of investors with millions of shares vote ahead of Norfolk Southern’s shareholder meeting on May 9.

The proxy advisory recommended that shareholders vote in support of Ancora nominees Betsy Akins, Jim Barber, William Clyburn, Sameh Fahmy, Gilbert Lamphere and Allison Landry.

Significantly, the proxy advisory also recommended that shareholders withhold their support from current CEO Shaw and board chair Amy Miles.

Furthermore, Glass Lewis said Barber, Ancora’s pick for CEO, and Jamie Boychuk, the activist’s pick for chief operating officer, “have compelling credentials and track records.”

Ancora is seeking to oust Shaw in favor of former UPS executive Barber, who began his 35-year career in the eighties as a Teamster-represented delivery driver and ended it as COO of one of the world’s largest logistics companies. He lacks direct experience as a railroad executive but noted that UPS was one of the biggest rail customers worldwide in a CNBC interview earlier this month.

Ancora also seeks to install former CSX executive Boychuk as Barber’s COO. Boychuk spent 20 years at Canadian National before joining CSX. Like Barber, Boychuk began his career as a union-represented conductor and rose through the ranks at CN and CSX, where he was executive vice president for operations until 2023.

Norfolk Southern said in a statement Monday that it “strongly” disagreed with Glass Lewis’ “misguided” recommendation.

“We are confident that Norfolk Southern shareholders are highly informed and acutely aware that replacing six directors, including our crisis-tested CEO, Alan Shaw, with Ancora’s inferior candidates would put the company critical to our nation’s economy at…