Whitemail

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Whitemail is a term coined backwards from blackmail. [1] It is typically used in the sense of economics as a counter to a hostile merger but also has meanings in marketing, fundraising, and bribery.

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Economics

In economics, whitemail is a counter to a takeover arrangement in which the target company will sell significantly discounted stock to a friendly third party. In return, the third party helps thwart takeover attempts by raising the acquisition price for the opposing bidder, diluting the opposing bidder's number of shares, and increasing the stock holdings of the company. [2] [3]

Politics

Whitemail bribes are used to influence a high-level elected official or politician to perform an illegal or uneconomic act. This type of bribery is common in many developed and developing countries. [4] It typically involves a large amount of money and is usually concealed through means such as fake accounting and documentation or moving the money through subsidiaries. [5]

Fundraising

In fundraising, whitemail is a donation received without a response form, coupon, statement, or other source identification, so it cannot be attributed to any particular fundraising campaign. These donations often come in generic, white-colored envelopes. [6]

Marketing

Whitemail refers to unsolicited mail sent to marketers from customers. It was also named for coming in generic white envelopes instead of official reply mail offered by companies. [7]

Related Research Articles

Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to and distinct from Economics which is the study of production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Based on the scope of financial activities in financial systems, the discipline can be divided into personal, corporate, and public finance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Financial market</span> Generic term for all markets in which trading takes place with capital

A financial market is a market in which people trade financial securities and derivatives at low transaction costs. Some of the securities include stocks and bonds, raw materials and precious metals, which are known in the financial markets as commodities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stock market</span> Place where stocks are traded

A stock market, equity market, or share market is the aggregation of buyers and sellers of stocks, which represent ownership claims on businesses; these may include securities listed on a public stock exchange as well as stock that is only traded privately, such as shares of private companies that are sold to investors through equity crowdfunding platforms. Investments are usually made with an investment strategy in mind.

A shareholder rights plan, colloquially known as a "poison pill", is a type of defensive tactic used by a corporation's board of directors against a takeover.

In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company by another. In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to the acquisition of a private company.

An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment banks, who also arrange for the shares to be listed on one or more stock exchanges. Through this process, colloquially known as floating, or going public, a privately held company is transformed into a public company. Initial public offerings can be used to raise new equity capital for companies, to monetize the investments of private shareholders such as company founders or private equity investors, and to enable easy trading of existing holdings or future capital raising by becoming publicly traded.

In the field of finance, private equity (PE) is capital stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public. Private equity is offered instead to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the companies. In casual usage, "private equity" can refer to these investment firms rather than the companies that they invest in.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pump and dump</span> Form of securities fraud

Pump and dump (P&D) is a form of securities fraud that involves artificially inflating the price of an owned stock through false and misleading positive statements (pump), in order to sell the cheaply purchased stock at a higher price (dump). Once the operators of the scheme "dump" (sell) their overvalued shares, the price falls and investors lose their money. This is most common with small-cap cryptocurrencies and very small corporations/companies, i.e. "microcaps".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bribery</span> Corrupt solicitation, acceptance, or transfer of value in exchange for official action

Bribery is the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty and to incline him to act contrary to his duty and the known rules of honesty and integrity. With regard to governmental operations, essentially, bribery is "Corrupt solicitation, acceptance, or transfer of value in exchange for official action." Bung is British slang for a bribe.

Greenmail or greenmailing is the action of purchasing enough shares in a firm to challenge a firm's leadership with the threat of a hostile takeover to force the target company to buy the purchased shares back at a premium in order to prevent the potential takeover.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Singapore Exchange</span> Investment holding company in Singapore

Singapore Exchange Limited is a Singapore-based exchange conglomerate, operating equity, fixed income, currency and commodity markets. It provides a range of listing, trading, clearing, settlement, depository and data services. SGX Group is also a member of the World Federation of Exchanges and the Asian and Oceanian Stock Exchanges Federation. it is ASEAN's second largest market capitalization after Indonesia Stock Exchange at US$585.97 billion as of September 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadway Stores</span> American retailer

Broadway Stores, Inc., was an American retailer based in Southern California. Known through its history as Carter Hawley Hale Stores and Broadway Hale Stores over time, it acquired other retail store chains in regions outside its California home base and became in certain retail sectors a regional and national retailer in the 1970s and 1980s. The company was able to survive takeover attempts in 1984 and 1986, and also a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in 1991 by selling off most of its assets until August 1995 when its banks refused to advance enough additional credit in order for the company to be able to pay off suppliers. At that point, the company sold itself to Federated Department Stores for $1.6 billion with the acquisition being completed on October 12, 1995.

In business, a white knight is a friendly investor that acquires a corporation at a fair consideration with support from the corporation's board of directors and management. This may be during a period while it is facing a hostile acquisition from another potential acquirer or it is facing bankruptcy. White knights are preferred by the board of directors and/or management as in most cases as they do not replace the current board or management with a new board, whereas, in most cases, a black knight will seek to replace the current board of directors and/or management with its new board reflective of its net interest in the corporation's equity.

Economic nationalism is an ideology that prioritizes state intervention in the economy, including policies like domestic control and the use of tariffs and restrictions on labor, goods, and capital movement. The core belief of economic nationalism is that the economy should serve nationalist goals. As a prominent modern ideology, economic nationalism stands in contrast to economic liberalism and economic socialism.

Pay-to-play, sometimes pay-for-play or P2P, is a phrase used for a variety of situations in which money is exchanged for services or the privilege to engage in certain activities. The common denominator of all forms of pay-to-play is that one must pay to "get in the game", with the sports analogy frequently arising.

Peter Wall is a Ukrainian-born Canadian businessman. He is a property developer in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, who, in the 1990s and 2000s, played a significant and controversial part in the city's real-estate boom. He has been described as "a leading contributor to Vancouver's 'City of Glass' reputation" during a period in which the city's skyline has been transformed, along with its economic and social profile. Rejecting the label "developer", Wall has stated that he "just make[s] some money investing in business ideas and projects".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stock</span> Shares into which ownership of the corporation is divided

Stocks consist of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporation in proportion to the total number of shares. This typically entitles the shareholder (stockholder) to that fraction of the company's earnings, proceeds from liquidation of assets, or voting power, often dividing these up in proportion to the amount of money each stockholder has invested. Not all stock is necessarily equal, as certain classes of stock may be issued, for example, without voting rights, with enhanced voting rights, or with a certain priority to receive profits or liquidation proceeds before or after other classes of shareholders.

Stingray Group Inc. is a Canadian music, media and technology company based in Montreal, Quebec, with offices in Toronto, Ontario, as well as in the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany and Australia.

Council for United Civil Rights Leadership (CUCRL) was an umbrella group formed in June 1963 to organize and regulate the Civil Rights Movement. The Council brought leaders of Black civil rights organizations together with white donors in business and philanthropy. It successfully arranged the August 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom with the Kennedy administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charity auction</span> Fundraising event

Charity auctions are a way of raising funds for charities. These events are typically hosted in hotels or ballrooms, and dinner or cocktails may be served to guests. Charity auctions aimed at business leaders and other well-off potential donors often take the form of a formal gala.

References

  1. Lieber, Rochelle; Stekauer, Pavol (2014-09-25). The Oxford Handbook of Derivational Morphology. OUP Oxford. ISBN   978-0-19-165178-6.
  2. Scott, David Logan (2003). Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms for Today's Investor. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN   978-0-618-17651-9.
  3. Vallabhaneni, S. Rao (2021-10-19). Wiley CIA 2022 Exam Review, Part 3: Business Knowledge for Internal Auditing. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN   978-1-119-84621-5.
  4. Shahabuddin, Syed (June 2002). "The Causes and Consequences of Bribery in International Business". International Journal of Management . 19 (2): 366–376. ProQuest   233230841 via ProQuest.
  5. Fatehi, Kamal (2008). Managing Internationally: Succeeding in a Culturally Diverse World. SAGE. ISBN   978-1-4129-3690-3.
  6. O'Neill, Kerry (2018-08-02). "3 Whitemail Best Practices for Your Charity". truesense.com. Archived from the original on 2021-06-22. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  7. Friesen, Pat (2006-11-01). "The Wonders of White Mail". www.adweek.com. Retrieved 2024-03-03.

Further reading