In trying to save Darden, a board sealed its own demise

Steven Davidoff Solomon writes for The New York Times, September 30, 2014

The directors of Darden Restaurants, the owner of Olive Garden and other quintessentially American restaurant chains, may have decided that they would rather commit corporate suicide than give in to the demands of two activist shareholders, Starboard Value and the Barington Capital Group. It would be touching if it didn’t appear to be so inexplicably foolish.