Arkhouse, a long-time, actively-engaged shareholder of People Incorporated (“People” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: PPLI), delivered the following letter to Barry Diller, the Chairman and Senior Executive of People, as well as the entire Board of Directors of the Company, detailing a multiple-step plan to create value for the shareholders of the Company.
November 4, 2026
Mr. Barry Diller
Chairman and Senior Executive
People Incorporated
555 West 18th Street
New York, NY 10011
Attention: Corporate Secretary
Dear Barry:
As you know, we have been longstanding shareholders of People Incorporated (“People” or the “Company”), and remain convinced that the value of its assets dramatically exceeds its current trading value. Unfortunately, the discount at which the Company trades remains at extreme levels.
We believed the prospective acquisition of People by MGM could have delivered meaningful value to shareholders. In the absence of a transaction, we urge the Board to take immediate, decisive action to address the Company’s egregious undervaluation.
People has the assets and financial resources to act now, with nearly $1 billion in cash at the debt-free parent company level. We urge the Board to pursue three concrete steps:
- Repurchase at least $750 million of stock through a Dutch auction tender offer.
- Distribute contingent value rights (“CVRs”) entitling shareholders to a portion of any net proceeds from the Company’s litigation against Google/Alphabet.
- Monetize the Company’s headquarters building.
Dutch Tender
We can think of few better uses of a company’s capital than purchasing shares at a discount to intrinsic value. The wider the discount, the more compelling the math. Specifically, as Exhibit 1 below illustrates, we believe the intrinsic value, or net asset value (NAV), of People approximates $72 per share based on the current (and in our view, extremely depressed) share price of MGM. Valuing MGM at the previously-proposed acquisition price of $48.30 per share increases estimated NAV to approximately $86 per share. These values represent approximately 72% and 104% upside, respectively, to People’s current stock price.
|
Exhibit 1 |
Current Price of MGM |
Acquisition Offer for MGM |
|
MGM price per share |
$32.82 |
$48.30 |
|
MGM shares owned (in millions) |
66.8 |
66.8 |
|
MGM stake value |
2,192 |
3,226 |
|
Net Cash at Parent Company |
946 |
946 |
|
People Inc. (est. cost less subsidiary net debt)1 |
1,963 |
1,963 |
|
Turo (estimated cost basis) |
380 |
380 |
|
Total Estimated NAV2 |
5,482 |
6,516 |
|
PPLI diluted shares (in millions) |
75.9 |
75.9 |
|
NAV per share |
$72.22 |
$85.85 |
|
PPLI price as of 11/4/26 |
$41.99 |
$41.99 |
|
% Increase to NAV |
72% |
104% |
People should offer to repurchase at least $750 million in stock through a Dutch auction tender, with a price range set at a level sufficient to complete the full $750 million repurchase. This tender would signal conviction at scale, efficiently clear sellers, and concentrate the shareholder base among those who understand the assets they own. The Dutch tender completed by Scholastic Corporation earlier this year provides a relevant precedent: another historically undervalued media company with a dual-class share structure and valuable headquarters real estate taking concrete action to return capital and increase its share price to fair value.
Contingent Value Rights (CVRs)
We believe the Company should create and distribute Contingent Value Rights (CVRs) to shareholders which would provide shareholders with the right to receive their proportionate net proceeds that may be recovered by the Company in connection with People Inc.’s legal action against Google/Alphabet.3 Our independent assessment supports management’s view that the potential recovery could be significant. As management stated on the fourth quarter 2025 earnings conference call, “We seek to recover hundreds of millions of dollars in damages,” and then stated on the third quarter 2026 earnings conference call, “We believe we have substantial claims, among the largest claims out there.” We note that in a similar case of Gannett (USA Today) vs Google/Alphabet, Gannett’s expert has estimated damages of approximately $900 million, which would be subject to statutory trebling under the Clayton Act if proven at trial.
Sale of HQ Real Estate
We are highly confident, based on our extensive experience investing in the real estate space and previous indications of interest received from prospective buyers, that parties would be interested in pursuing an acquisition of the Company’s headquarters real estate in Chelsea for values approaching $300 million, which is meaningfully above People’s estimated $230 million purchase price of its building and underlying land.
We reiterate that People’s poor share price performance does not diminish our respect for the strategic vision you have demonstrated over decades. Rather, we view the Company’s egregious undervaluation as a damning indictment of the current state of the public equity markets. Nevertheless, shareholders bear the consequences of that disconnect, and the Board has the means and responsibility to act now. We therefore call on the full Board, under your leadership as Chairman, to take immediate, decisive action, including the measures outlined above, to close the gap between People’s share price and its intrinsic value.
We continue to evaluate additional avenues to unlock shareholder value, including a potential transaction involving the Company. The measures outlined above would preserve flexibility for such a transaction, while repurchasing shares below intrinsic value would increase the value per share attributable to remaining shareholders. We believe these proposals are straightforward and immediately actionable, and we remain available to discuss their implementation.
Sincerely,
Gavriel Kahane
Managing Partner
cc: The Board of Directors
About Arkhouse
Arkhouse is a New York-based investment firm that takes a private equity approach to investing in the public markets. Arkhouse focuses on M&A strategies to unlock value dislocations created by the mispricing of assets across public and private markets. Arkhouse’s team of professionals consists of real estate and public equity specialists who have closed $25+ billion of transactions and have an 18-year shareholder activism track record.
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1 Reflects estimated $3 billion combined purchase price of Meredith and About.com, less $1.04 billion of subsidiary net debt. This implied value includes the potential recovery from the Google/Alphabet litigation, which we advocate be distributed via CVRs. |
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2 Excludes the Company’s owned headquarters with an estimated value approaching $300 million, other assets including Vivian Health and the Daily Beast, and corporate expenses. |
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3 Dotdash Meredith Inc. a/k/a People Inc. and Meredith Operations Corporation vs. Google LLC and Alphabet Inc. – Case number: 1:25-cv-07194, SDNY. |
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