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Activist investor Paul Hilal founded Mantle Ridge to invest in CSX and pressed the railroad to hire Harrison as CEO.
CSX Corp., the railroad company in which Paul Hilal’s Mantle Ridge has an activist stake, announced Saturday, December 16 that its chief executive officer and president Hunter Harrison died “due to unexpectedly severe complications from a recent illness.”
His death in Wellington, Florida follows the company’s December 14 announcement that Harrison, 73, was on medical leave because of the complications, and that Chief Operating Officer James Foote would act as CEO. CXS shares dropped 7.6 percent to $52.93 on Friday, December 15.
“With the passing of Hunter Harrison, CSX has suffered a major loss,” Chairman Edward Kelly said in Saturday’s statement.
Hilal, a former partner at Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management, created Mantle Ridge last year to invest solely in CSX. He aimed to repeat his success at Canadian Pacific Railway, where Pershing Square won a proxy battle and installed Harrison, eventually reaping a more than 300 percent gain on its stake.
“Professionally, Hunter was unmatched in this industry,” Canadian Pacific President and...