Lyle Weston
Managing Director
Lyle is a strategic communications counselor who combines his passion for storytelling and background in client service to help clients navigate complex, high-profile corporate events. With experience spanning a range of diverse and dynamic situations, he advises boards and management teams through transactions and special situations, including mergers, acquisitions and unsolicited takeovers; shareholder activism defense and short attacks; corporate crises that draw substantial media attention; and bankruptcies and restructurings. He also assists clients with ongoing corporate communications and investor relations.
Credentials
Lyle received a BS from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the Martin J. Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University. Prior to joining Joele Frank, Lyle was part of the Communications Leadership Development Program at General Electric.
Recent Highlights
Select Experience
M&A/Transactions
Lyle works with clients on friendly, unsolicited and contested transactions. Notable assignments include advising: Alcoa in its acquisition of Alumina Limited; Anadarko Petroleum in its sale to Occidental Petroleum; Broadcom in its acquisition of Symantec's enterprise security business; CBS in its defense against an unsolicited proposal from Viacom and related litigation with National Amusements; Endeavor Energy Resources in its sale to Diamondback Energy; Hawaiian Airlines in its sale to Alaska Airlines; Johnson & Johnson in its acquisition of Actelion Pharmaceuticals; Knauf in its unsolicited takeover approach and subsequent acquisition of USG Corporation; Newmont Mining in its acquisition of Goldcorp and unsolicited proposal from Barrick Gold; Prologis in its unsolicited takeover approach and subsequent acquisition of Duke Realty; Rio Tinto in its acquisition of Turquoise Hill Resources and pending acquisition of Arcadium Lithium; the Special Committee of The We Company in its transaction agreement and related litigation with SoftBank Group; and Verizon in its pending acquisition of Frontier Communications.
Shareholder Activism Defense and Short Attacks
Lyle has advised on numerous public and private activist situations and counseled clients facing short attacks. Notable assignments include engagements with Carl Icahn, Corvex, Elliott Management, JANA Partners, Starboard, Pentwater, Scopia Capital, Soroban Capital, Blue Orca, Spruce Point, and Fuzzy Panda.
Corporate Communications & Reputation Management
Lyle partners with his clients to set and deliver on communications objectives across earned, owned and paid media that drive real-world business outcomes. He counsels on message development and assists with communications campaign execution, working hand-in-hand with clients from idea to tactical deployment. Leveraging a deep network of relationships, Lyle helps his clients take control of their narrative in public, including through influential earned media opportunities and managing discrete matters.
Crisis Communications
Lyle advises companies facing a variety of crisis situations, including high-profile litigation, cyber incidents, unplanned management changes, regulatory inquiries and investigations, Congressional requests, facility closures and workforce reductions, fraud and accounting irregularities, internal/board investigations, and product recalls.
Restructuring, Bankruptcy & Liability Management
Lyle has expertise developing and implementing communications plans related to out-of-court financial restructurings and in-court Chapter 11 reorganizations. Notable assignments include Barneys New York, Cumulus Media, Frontier Communications, INSYS Therapeutics, JCPenney, Scandinavian Airlines System, Toys”R”Us and Vice Media Group.
In Conversation
Personal Side
Lyle grew up in Queens, NY, where his first jobs were at his family’s air conditioning business in the summer and as a professional ski instructor in the winter.