Steven Wolosky

Chair Emeritus of the Shareholder Activism Practice Group, Steve Wolosky is a nationally recognized corporate and securities lawyer who counsels clients in the areas of proxy contests and mergers and acquisitions. Steve has been ranked by Chambers USA as a “Leading Lawyer” (Band 1) in Corporate/M&A: Shareholder Activism category. According to Chambers USA, Steve provides foremost counsel to clients in the market's most significant domestic and cross-border shareholder activism matters.

A pioneer in shareholder activism, Steve spearheaded Olshan’s Shareholder Activism Practice more than 40 years ago. Today, he is one of the leading lawyers in the country advising hedge funds and investment partnerships on activist situations in the United States and worldwide. Steve advises on some of the most high-profile activist campaigns year-in, year-out. Steve’s recent representations have included Elliott Management at Public Storage, Principal Financial Group, and Duke Energy; Starboard Value at eHealth; Macellum Advisors at Kohl’s; Ryan Cohen at Bed Bath & Beyond; and Chatham Asset Management at R.R. Donnelley. Most notably, Steve led the representation of Starboard Value on its “historic” full board victory at Darden Restaurants and its recent majority board victory at GCP Applied Technologies; H. Partners on its successful, precedent setting withhold campaign at Tempur Sealy; George Feldenkreis, founder and former Executive Chairman of Perry Ellis International, Inc., in his nomination of directors and successful unsolicited acquisition of Perry Ellis; and Elliott Management in its successful settlements at eBay and Arconic. In international news-making cases, Steve represented foreign clients who successfully obtained board representation for the first time in Japan, South Korea and Israel. Steve has led over 800 proxy contests for board representation in his career.

Olshan's Shareholder Activism Practice Group is widely recognized as the nation's premier practice in representing activist investors in contested director elections. The Group is consistently ranked as the No. 1 legal advisor to activist investors by every league table and publication that covers shareholder activism, including Bloomberg’s League Tables, the FactSet SharkRepellant Activism Scorecard, Refinitiv Global Shareholder Activism Scorecard, Activist Insight Monthly and The Deal Activism League Table. In 2021, Olshan advised on a record number 119 activist engagements. In addition, Chambers USA 2021 Guide ranked Olshan's Shareholder Activism Practice Band 1, the guide’s highest ranking in the category of M&A Shareholder Activism, and the Legal 500 United States guide to leading law firms and attorneys named Olshan’s Shareholder Activism Practice as a Top Tier 1 Leading Firm in M&A/Corporate and Commercial: Shareholder Activism - advice to shareholders since 2019.

Steve advises clients in negotiating mergers and acquisitions and hostile takeovers of public companies. He has extensive experience representing public and private issuers of debt and equity securities, purchasers and sellers in mergers, stock and asset transactions, and investment funds in their formation, capital raising and investment transactions. Steve frequently counsels corporate clients in corporate planning and structuring activities, corporate governance matters, dealings with stock exchanges, and public company compliance matters.

Steve is regularly quoted as an industry expert in The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, The Deal, Law360, and in other notable media publications discussing important trends in shareholder activism. He also lectures at corporate and securities law conferences and speaks on distinguished activist panels throughout the country.

Steve has been cited for his preeminence in shareholder activism and corporate and securities. According to Chambers USA, "Steve’s depth of experience is incredible. He is able to navigate through the most complex board level negotiations with outstanding outcomes." Legal 500 US has recognized Steve as an elite "Leading Lawyer" in M&A/Corporate and Commercial: Shareholder Activism - advice to shareholders. In Best Lawyers in America, his clients are quoted as saying that "he possesses a deep understanding of both business and legal needs of the client.” In addition, he is Martindale-Hubbell AV ("Preeminent") rated by his peers and consistently named to the New York Super Lawyers list since 2006. Steve was profiled in Business Insider as one of the top go-to lawyers for activist investors.

Steve is a current director and former chairman of the Federal Law Enforcement Foundation.

Steve received his J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and holds a B.A. from Brooklyn College of the City University of New York.