The CEO of Union Pacific Railroad, Lance Fritz, announced Sunday that he will be stepping down from the position. A U.S. hedge fund, that owns about a $1.6 billion stake in the company, had called for the change in leadership earlier that day. The hedge fund cited the railroad company’s need for safer operations and faster transportation.
The stock market apparently agrees with the change at the top. Shares of Union Pacific surged nearly 10% in early trade Monday. That is on course for its biggest rise since March of 2020. It’s a bounce back that was needed. Union Pacific shares have dropped more than 25% over the past 10 months.
U.S. hedge fund Soroban Capital Partners called for Fritz to resign. It’s a showing of strong influence company-investors have in a company’s operations.
Union Pacific said a new CEO will be named sometime this year. As part of the search for new leadership, it is considering shareholder input in the process. Soroban Capital has already put up their candidate of choice, Jim Vena. He was the former chief operating officer at Union Pacific.