At the time, Barington was becoming a pioneer in the current generation of investor activism, and it was there that McKeever got to know Starboard Value activist Jeff Smith, whose hedge fund was then part of Ramius Capital. Smith partnered with McKeever in many of Barington’s campaigns.
But McKeever yearned to make a bigger impact. So she went to law school—not to be a lawyer, but to study up on corporate governance. She launched Ides in the summer of 2015, renting a desk at a swanky coworking space a block from Central Park. She’s now looking for new office space, and she has set her sights on several more small-company targets.
In the meantime, McKeever, who describes herself as a “hard-core videogamer,” blows off steam playing Ms. Pac-Man. Her Twitter picture is the game’s avatar; her bio just says, “Eatin’ ghosts.”