'Illumina' Board Activist Investor Reduces Millions of Shares by Liquidating Derivatives

According to a Form 4 filing, Keith A. Meister—director of Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) and activist investor—has, via his Corvex fund, systematically unwound share swaps and executed cash‐settled transactions from early to late May, reducing his indirect holding from roughly 3.9 million shares to about 2.8 million shares. The filing shows that on May 7 and 11 he converted part of his swap exposure into Illumina common stock, purchasing tens of thousands of shares. Between May 12 and 14, he acquired approximately $26.3 million (around KRW 370 billion) of shares and immediately sold about $47–48 million (roughly KRW 650 billion) on the open market, effecting a large‐scale monetization in a short span. Then, from May 28 through June 1, he closed out the remaining swap positions and sold an additional 500,000-plus shares of Illumina stock. Meister and Corvex explicitly disclaim beneficial ownership of these shares beyond the economic interests they retain.

At the end of April, Illumina reported first-quarter 2026 results that beat market expectations and approved a new $1.5 billion share-repurchase program. In January, the company completed its acquisition of data-driven proteomics specialist SomaLogic and secured Medicare (CMS) reimbursement for its TruSight Oncology comprehensive test, advancing its multi-omics and precision oncology business expansion.

Illumina, a global leader in next-generation sequencing instruments and reagents, has recently identified multi-omics and precision oncology platforms as its core growth engines. Meister, founder and chief investment officer of hedge fund Corvex Management, joined Illumina’s board in 2025 and has since exerted influence over the company’s capital allocation and governance.