When I was a kid, I loved pirates. I read Treasure Island multiple times and was a huge fan of pirate movies (especially if they were on late after everyone else was asleep).

That carried over into adulthood. I still read Pirate Fiction and have watched all of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Whenever we go to Disney World, the first place I head is the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. If they ever put a rum bar at the end, I would stay there all day.

My guilty pleasure fiction reading is Pirates and Westerns.

This has all carried over into my investing activities. Some of the most successful investors during my career have been the financial equivalent of pirates. I am speaking, of course, of activist investors and private equity firms. Stealing ideas from these two classes of investors has been wildly profitable over my career.

Today I am going to take a quick look at the late moves by some of the leading activist investment funds. We will also discuss a common theme between activists and Private equity funds that have important implications for us as investors.