Political Appointments on Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Mostly Yield Heavy Losses
A market analysis reveals that hiring retired Israeli politicians as corporate chairs often leads to heavy shareholder losses, though former Minister Ayelet Shaked stands as a notable exception with Kardan Real Estate.
A growing trend among publicly traded companies on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange involves recruiting retired senior politicians, former ministers, and prime ministers to leverage their extensive networks and regulatory expertise. However, a recent market analysis reveals that these high-profile appointments have largely resulted in steep shareholder losses, exposing a wide gap between political clout and corporate success.
Among the starkest examples is the non-bank lender Yونت Credit, which plummeted by approximately 88% during the tenure of former Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon as chairman. Similarly, Electreon saw its stock drop by about 66% during the four-year tenure of former President Reuven Rivlin, while Hamashbir experienced a 49% decline following the appointment of former minister Yifat Shasha-Biton as chair. Cannabis firm InterCure also shed roughly 33% of its value over the six-year chairmanship of former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and Mahadrin declined by 13% under Moshe Arbel over a five-month period. Earlier, Gadi Eisenkot chaired Storage Drop, which lost 95% of its value during his tenure before he entered the Knesset.
The Exception to the Rule
Amid these broad market failures, former Justice and Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked stands out as a rare exception. Shaked joined Kardan Real Estate in early 2023, initially serving as vice chair before stepping into the role of chair of the board. Since her appointment, the company's share price has surged by approximately 55%, pushing its market capitalization close to 890 million shekels.
Kardan Real Estate outperformed the broader industry trend, beating the Tel Aviv Real Estate Index—which rose by about 43% over the same period—by roughly 12 percentage points. Market analysts attribute this outlier performance to a genuine professional alignment, noting that Shaked accumulated deep regulatory expertise in urban planning, housing development, and land appreciation during her public service, directly translating those skills to the core operations of a real estate firm.
