About a month in as CEO, Laura Clark, in a sit down with The Real Deal at Rexford Industrial’s Brentwood office, appeared to confirm a theory — that Elliott Investment Management was behind her entry to the corner office. She said the succession plan had already been in place but “those discussions impact timing.”
When an activist investor takes a stake in a company, it typically means changes are coming and probably sends a chill down the spines of CEOs — who, more than ever before, are the targets of activist campaigns.
In the case of the vanilla industrial REIT, the campaign began with a rumor: there was talk that Paul Singer’s Elliott Investment Management had quietly become one of Rexford Industrial’s largest shareholders. The Los Angeles company later mentioned it had conversations with the hedge fund on an earnings call when prodded by analysts. But the real news came late last year when Rexford announced a changed capital allocation strategy that involved selling real estate and buying back shares — and a CEO shakeup.
The REIT’s co-CEOs were out and Clark was in. She won.
Clark replaced Michael Frankel and Howard Schwimmer, who founded the multibillion-dollar REIT with former chair Richard Ziman. Her corner office era began April 1 after six years at the company. Frankel and Schwimmer dropped, or lost, their C-suite gigs and soon their board seats.
Chair Tyler Rose said the succession plan was in the making for years, but there was speculation that Elliott was the reason.
Now the activist investor’s ownership shares are unclear, according to Clark. The hedge fund may not own shares at all anymore, she mentioned last week. Elliott called itself one of Rexford’s largest investors in the dual November announcements.
Elliott “forms and establishes from time to time certain special purpose vehicles, operating companies, joint ventures or similar arrangements for investing in and developing opportunities,” it says. That means it sells, buys and holds shares via brokerage accounts and other entities, which makes it difficult to pin down the activist investor’s positions. Plus, the SEC only requires reporting for firms with more than a 5 percent stake in a company. Thus, if Elliott spreads its shares across various entities, it’s able to maintain a low profile.
“We’re not engaged in a regular dialogue with them,” Clark said during her talk with TRD.
Clark claims the conversations Rexford has had with Elliott are that of a typical shareholder — but Elliott is not your typical shareholder.
“The discussions that we had with them last year were really constructive, friendly and supportive — and I think that they’d agree with us as well, that the outcome that we achieved through those discussions is positioning Rexford to create more shareholder value,” she said.
When asked if Rexford had spoken to Elliott in 2026, Clark said yes but didn’t elaborate further. Elliott declined to comment.
Whether Elliott is in or out, the firm cleaned house. Operational efficiency, refocused capital allocation and enhanced governance and oversight were the goals. It’s early but the changes in the Clark reign reflect that, including a stock rebound.
Around the time rumors began swirling in August around Elliott’s involvement with Rexford, the REIT saw its stock increase, maintaining gains for several months before the tide turned. Leading up to Clark’s April 1 start date as CEO, Rexford’s stock had been trending downward for months, following the release of its fourth quarter earnings report which revealed a net loss of about $69 million for the period. Between the Feb. 4 earnings release and March 31, shares lost more than 20 percent of their value. When Clark took the helm, values began to trend back up before reaching a plateau over the last two months, hovering between $35 and $37.
Rexford’s buy-happy days aren’t over, but are definitely on a break. Clark, who is making the media rounds, said there were no acquisitions in the pipeline but left the door open.
“Acquisitions will be a part of our strategy,” she said. It’s not a compelling move now while Southern California industrial is in a correction cycle, she explained, but that won’t last forever.
Rexford will always be an industrial only REIT, she said, and $400 million to $500 million in sell-offs is still the goal for the year. The focus has been selling development sites and properties that’ll eat into its cash flow and selling to owner-users, Clark said.
Executive compensation is another reflection of change. Clark’s comp will be less than her predecessors and more connected to shareholder returns, which she said she pushed for.
“We should be arm-and-arm, shoulder-to-shoulder with our investors. If our investors are performing well and we’re driving outsized returns for them, then we as a management team should be compensated and aligned with them,” Clark said “And if we’re not, then we shouldn’t be.”
Clark is only one of a few female CEOs in Los Angeles’ commercial real estate world. Plus, she succeeded co-CEOs who were founders. That doesn’t happen often. She sees it as an exciting opportunity but knows the pressure that comes with it.
“I feel the weight of it,” she said. “There’s not a lot of women that sit in the role, so you feel the weight of being in this role as a woman for all women.”
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