Only nine more days

A resolution will soon be at hand in the ongoing proxy battle over board seats at Target, as May 28 and the retailer’s annual meeting draws near. Regardless of whether the existing Target board members retain their seats, or the alternate slate proposed by Pershing Square hedge fund manager Bill Ackman is retained, one thing is for sure; when it is all said and done, Target’s existing and prospective shareholders will owe Ackman a debt of gratitude. He forced the company’s senior management to publicly defend its strategies and the qualifications of its board members in a way that a lesser shareholder never could have. It’s too bad he and Target both spent millions of dollars doing so, but Target will be a better company for enduring scrutiny of how it serves the market and provides value to shareholders in a way it has never seen.