Ralph Whitworth

Activist investor Ralph Whitworth purchased a $54.5-million stake in J.C. Penney Co., raising the possibility that the retailer will face increased pressure to sell its Eckerd drugstore chain. Relational Investors, a San Diego money management company run by Whitworth and David Batchelder, bought 2.73 million J.C. Penney shares during the second quarter, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. J.C.

Sprint Nextel Corp., under pressure from investors to abandon plans for a high-speed wireless network, will pay the executive in charge of the project as much as $500,000 if he stays through the end of the year. Chief Technology Officer Barry West will get a prorated payment if he resigns or is fired, Sprint said in a regulatory filing. West had a similar agreement in 2007, said James Fisher, spokesman for the Reston, Va., firm. Investors such as Ralph Whitworth of San Diego-based Relational Investors are urging Sprint to focus on improving its mobile-phone operations instead of building the new service, which would blanket entire cities with fast Internet access.

Shareholder activist Ralph Whitworth chuckles when people call him the Ross Perot of investor rights. While the maverick Texas billionaire has been making political headlines, Whitworth, 37, has been holding corporate feet to the fire on issues like executive pay packages and boards of directors dominated by management. Through a combination of persuasion and doggedness, Whitworth, president of the United Shareholders Assn.

Activist investor Ralph Whitworth purchased a $54.5-million stake in J.C. Penney Co., raising the possibility that the retailer will face increased pressure to sell its Eckerd drugstore chain. Relational Investors, a San Diego money management company run by Whitworth and David Batchelder, bought 2.73 million J.C. Penney shares during the second quarter, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. J.C.

Sprint Nextel Corp., under pressure from investors to abandon plans for a high-speed wireless network, will pay the executive in charge of the project as much as $500,000 if he stays through the end of the year. Chief Technology Officer Barry West will get a prorated payment if he resigns or is fired, Sprint said in a regulatory filing. West had a similar agreement in 2007, said James Fisher, spokesman for the Reston, Va., firm. Investors such as Ralph Whitworth of San Diego-based Relational Investors are urging Sprint to focus on improving its mobile-phone operations instead of building the new service, which would blanket entire cities with fast Internet access.

Activist investor Ralph Whitworth on Monday made the first move in a planned proxy fight at California chip maker National Semiconductor Corp., where he now is the third-largest shareholder with a 7.2% stake. Whitworth, in a regulatory filing, said he is seeking two board seats in order to have a bigger role in a bid to reverse losses the company has suffered and to revive its stock, which has plummeted 43% in the last year.

A group including Richard C. Blum & Associates Inc. has reduced its stake in Apria Healthcare Group Inc., the Costa Mesa provider of home health care, to 6.2%. In a filing Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the group said it sold 2.2 million common shares of Apria between April 1 and April 16 at prices ranging from $11.97 to $13.54 a share. The Blum group, which currently holds 3.23 million Apria shares, also reported that it has agreed to sell 3.

An investment group acquired a 9.99% stake in Apria Healthcare Group Inc. Relational Investors LLC and its affiliates, which hold 5.14 million shares of common stock, said in a report filed Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission that they believe Apria is undervalued. Costa Mesa-based Apria, a provider of home health care services, hired investment bank Goldman, Sachs & Co. to help explore options such as finding a buyer. Apria stock closed Thursday at $14, unchanged.

Corporate Gadfly Hanging Up Its Wings: The United Shareholders Assn., the voice of the little guy in the battle for shareholder rights and corporate accountability, says its mission is accomplished and it is shutting down. Founded seven years ago by takeover strategist T. Boone Pickens, United Shareholders was instrumental in widening the public debate on how corporations deal with their shareholders.

Mattel Inc., whose shares have lost more than half their value in six months, said it named activist shareholder Ralph Whitworth to its board. Whitworth, 44, is managing member of Relational Investors, which owns 4.2 million Mattel shares. The private investment fund buys shares in under-performing companies and tries to help turn them around.

Activist investor Ralph Whitworth on Monday made the first move in a planned proxy fight at California chip maker National Semiconductor Corp., where he now is the third-largest shareholder with a 7.2% stake. Whitworth, in a regulatory filing, said he is seeking two board seats in order to have a bigger role in a bid to reverse losses the company has suffered and to revive its stock, which has plummeted 43% in the last year.

Shareholder activist Ralph Whitworth chuckles when people call him the Ross Perot of investor rights. While the maverick Texas billionaire has been making political headlines, Whitworth, 37, has been holding corporate feet to the fire on issues like executive pay packages and boards of directors dominated by management. Through a combination of persuasion and doggedness, Whitworth, president of the United Shareholders Assn.

Investor Richard C. Blum and his affiliates raised their stake in Apria Healthcare Group Inc. to 9.9%, making them the second-largest shareholder in the money-losing provider of home health care services. Richard C. Blum & Associates LP boosted its holdings in Apria to 5.12 million shares, according to a regulatory filing. That makes Blum the No. 2 investor in Apria after Chairman Ralph Whitworth's Relational Advisors LLC, which holds 5.14 million shares. Blum, the husband of Sen.

Relational Investors LLC, the largest shareholder of Apria Healthcare Group Inc., raised its stake in the Costa Mesa home health care provider to 13.4%, from 9.9%. The investment partnership and affiliates most recently bought Apria shares for $3.80 to $5.56 each from Oct. 26 to Nov. 19, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. San Diego-based Relational, which now holds 6.