The data, they argue, could help persuade shareholders that management finally has its problems licked.

He holds more than 11 percent of the diversified steel company, and might be able to persuade dissatisfied shareholders to elect sympathetic directors.

To sell the deal, Ms. Fiorina and her team took to the road, trying to persuade large shareholders to vote for the deal.

Instead, he hopes to persuade existing shareholders that he can do a better job running the company than its current management.

Certainly as a tool in persuading shareholders, it was sensational.

Now, Waste Management is trying to persuade shareholders that its executives are on top of the company's problems.

But it may be difficult to persuade shareholders that online services would fit better with Disney's core film and television business than Comcast's cable systems.

But Walter Hewlett, a board member, has since changed his mind and begun a campaign to persuade other large shareholders to defeat the merger.

Analysts said they expected the group to have no big problems persuading shareholders to approve the restructuring plans at an extraordinary general meeting on December 21.

In order to realize this aim, Gould needed to somehow persuade shareholders that the company was facing financial ruin.