Sep 29, 2025
Mason Morfit and Rob Hale are the co-CEOs of ValueAct Capital, which manages $11 billion in public equities focused on the US and Japan. Since its founding in 2000, ValueAct has charted a distinctive path in activist investing, eschewing confrontation and publicity in favor of quiet, meaningful partnerships with management teams.
But they agreed to join me to reflect as they celebrate the firm’s
25th anniversary this year. Mason helped launch the firm and has
driven many of its successful investments, including the turnaround
of Microsoft in 2013. Rob joined fifteen years ago and leads the
firm’s investing in Japan. He joined the Board of Olympus in 2019
and helped usher in a new era of engagement between global
investors and Japanese companies.
Our conversation covers their paths to ValueAct, the firm’s history
and evolution, and the challenges that great companies face. We
cover their philosophy of working with management teams, investment
process, governance, long-term value creation, lessons from
mistakes, application of their approach to Japan, and the adoption
of their principles internally at ValueAct.
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