Gabelli Backs Harbinger's Slate

Mario Gabelli, with funds owning more than 22% of Media General (MEG/NYSE) Class A stock, is backing Harbinger's three nominees to the board. This isn't shocking, since Gabelli early on was certain to vote for at least one of Harbinger's nominees. But it's certainly bad news, more or less, for Media General management.

I say "more or less," because as you doubtless know if you're a fellow-suffering shareholder (or regular reader of this blog), the company has a dual-class share structure. So even if new members are added to the board over management's objections, there's no guarantee they'll actually be listened to at board meetings.

Later in the day, advisory firm Proxy Governance publicly urged shareholders not to vote for Harbinger's slate. But that's small potatoes compared to Gabelli. With Gabelli owning 22% and Harbinger owning 18%, that's a lot of shares right there.

Plus, the massive vote for Harbinger's slate from the editor of Controlled Greed. ;-)

Reading about the upcoming annual meeting should be fun, if nothing else.