Hedge Funds at the Silicon Valley Gate

Never has techland felt the influence of activist investors so acutely, with a Who’s Who of hedge fund luminaries transforming the investing landscape.

Lots of public companies have responded by shoring up weaknesses before they attract unwanted attention and creating plans for when the hedge-fund guys call.

But some tech businesses seem to have a built-in activist repellent: a dual-class share structure that keeps power in the hands of management.