Ancora ‘applauds’ CSX board for terminating CEO Joe Hinrichs

Fredrick DiSanto, Chairman and CEO of Ancora Holdings Group, and James Chadwick, President of Ancora Alternatives, commented: “We applaud the CSX (CSX) Board of Directors for heeding shareholder feedback and terminating former CEO Joe Hinrichs. This follows Ancora’s disclosure of its August 2025 letter that laid out the facts about Mr. Hinrichs’ value-destructive tenure and urged the Board to terminate him if he could not quickly position CSX to catch up to the railroads that have embraced the need for transcontinental service in the United States. As we expected, Mr. Hinrichs botched the opportunity and, if anything, appeared to try to fight the tailwinds of consolidation. With President Donald Trump and other policymakers recently expressing enthusiasm for the benefits of a transcontinental railroad, CSX and other Class I railroads have no choice but to embrace the industry’s new realities. Although Steve Angel is not a railroader by trade, his M&A pedigree and value creation record indicate his appointment is an initial step in the right direction for CSX. We expect the Board and Mr. Angel to be far more proactive when it comes to pursuing multiple opportunities to increase shareholder value and identifying a willing partner to merge with. Furthermore, with renewed leadership, we anticipate Mr. Angel will evaluate the full leadership team in order to restore the operational excellence that was a key tenet of CSX’s past success. In closing, Ancora continues to purchase shares of CSX and hopes to have a strengthened relationship with the Company if leadership continues taking the right steps to maximize value. It is regrettable that Mr. Hinrichs’ actions forced us to go public and loudly push for a leadership change. This should be a cautionary tale for all corporate leaders who consider putting their own agenda ahead of shareholders’ best interests.”