JetBlue’s First Woman CEO on Hedge Fund Activism: ‘I Don’t Wish It on Anybody’

Shareholder activism, often led by hedge funds, is typically a headache for public companies. But Joanna Geraghty, the CEO of JetBlue Airways Corporation and the first woman to lead the company, is staying positive amid the airline’s ongoing engagement with the activist investor Carl Icahn, who earlier this year took a 10 percent stake in the company and appointed two of his representatives to JetBlue’s board.

The airline has “had really constructive discussions” with members of Icahn’s team, said Geraghty yesterday (Sept.