News & Analysis as of

Board of Directors Fiduciary Duty Business Judgment Rule

Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP

M&A in Brief: Q1 2024

In a letter ruling, the Delaware Chancery Court held that where neither the target nor the acquiror was a Delaware entity, the transaction documents between the parties could not confer jurisdiction in the Chancery Court...more

Venable LLP

Fiduciary Liability Limitations Under Nevada Law Trigger Entire Fairness Review of Conversion from Delaware Due to Controlling...

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The Delaware Court of Chancery, in Palkon v. Maffei, et al., C.A. No. 2023-0449-JTL (Del. Ch. Feb. 20, 2024), determined that a reduction in the liability exposure of a fiduciary due to the conversion of a Delaware...more

BCLP

Tesla’s Super-charged Equity Award to Elon Musk Unplugged by Delaware Court Cautionary Tale for Boards and Executives

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The Delaware Chancery Court invalidated a substantial equity award to Elon Musk – the largest in history. It applied the entire fairness test instead of the more deferential business judgment rule, finding that Musk...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

Delaware Chancery Nixes Musk’s $55.8-Billion Tesla Pay-Out

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The Delaware Court of Chancery invalidated a $55.8-billion payout by Tesla, Inc., to its founder and controlling stockholder, Elon Musk. In a 200-page post-trial decision, Chancellor McCormick stated Musk was required to...more

Goodwin

Delaware Court of Chancery Rescinds Elon Musk’s $55.8 Billion Compensation Package in Cautionary Tale About Director Independence...

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On January 30, 2024, the Chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery struck down the $55.8 billion compensation plan that Tesla, Inc.’s board of directors had granted to Tesla’s well-known CEO, Elon Musk, finding that the...more

Venable LLP

Supreme Court of Maryland Overrules Prior Distinction Between Director’s Managerial and Non-Managerial Duties and Reaffirms That...

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In one of the most significant Maryland corporate law cases in several years, involving an inter-generational family contest between (a) a 28% stockholder and former director and employee (“Mekhaya”) and (b) the corporation...more

Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

The Business Judgment Rule Saves Disney Officers and Directors in a Stockholder Records Action

Corporate activity related to ESG can have profound legal and market consequences. These consequences can be cut many ways. Although having taken a position on Florida legislation that resulted in negative business...more

Barnea Jaffa Lande & Co.

The Business Judgment Rule – a Director’s Best Friend

In corporate law, it is customary to identify three organs through which a business company operates: the shareholders, the company’s management, and the board of directors. While the duties and rules by which shareholders...more

Goodwin

McDonald’s Part Two: Delaware Court of Chancery Dismisses Caremark Claims Against Directors Arising From Sexual Harassment Issues

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On March 1, 2023, in In re McDonald’s Corporation Stockholder Derivative Litigation, Vice Chancellor Travis Laster of Delaware’s Court of Chancery granted a motion to dismiss derivative claims against McDonald’s directors...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Delaware Chancery MFW Framework Does Not Require Best Deal

As Kahn v. M&F Worldwide Corp. (MFW) establishes, the Business Judgment Rule must be applied to a transaction involving a controlling shareholder, if the deal is conditioned upon the approval of: (1) an independent special...more

DarrowEverett LLP

Life May Not Be Fair, But Interested Party Transactions Should Be

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When a court reviews contested business transactions of a Delaware corporation, they typically rely on one of two standards of review: the “business judgment rule” or the “entire fairness standard.” The business judgment rule...more

Goodwin

Delaware Chancery Court Dismisses Derivative Claim for Failure to Show Demand Futility

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Delaware Chancery Court Dismisses Derivative Claim for Failure to Show Demand Futility; Federal Illegality of Marijuana Industry Bars Relief for Numerous Investor Claims; LIBOR Convictions of Former Deutsche Bank Traders...more

Freeman Law

Fiduciary Duties of the Board of Directors in Texas

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A corporation operates through its board of directors. All corporate powers must be exercised by or under the direction of the board. In Texas, the Texas Business Organizations Code (TBOC) provides certain provisions...more

Freeman Law

The Business Judgment Rule in Texas

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Corporate officers and directors owe a fiduciary duty to the corporation that they serve, and they can be held liable if they breach that fiduciary duty. Fiduciary duties are not codified in the Texas Business Organizations...more

Lowenstein Sandler LLP

Delaware’s New Universal Demand-Futility Test

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On Sept. 23, the Delaware Supreme Court endorsed a new universal three-part demand-futility test in United Food and Commercial Workers Union and Participating Food Industry Employers Tri-State Pension Fund v. Zuckerberg, et...more

Goodwin

A Win for Deal Certainty, Delaware Court of Chancery Orders Closing of Cake Supplier Acquisition

Goodwin on

A Win for Deal Certainty, Delaware Court of Chancery Orders Closing of Cake Supplier Acquisition; Under Armour to Pay $9M to Settle SEC Charges Involving Disclosure Failures; First Circuit Upholds Decision Applying Federal...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Sustains Claims Against Target’s CEO, Target’s Financial Advisor, and Acquirer for Allegedly Covertly Steering Merger...

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Firefighters’ Pension System of The City of Kansas City, Missouri Trust v. Presidio, Inc., C.A. No. 2019-0839-JTL (Del. Ch. Jan. 29, 2021) Presidio illustrates potential pitfalls for parties in the M&A process, including...more

Morris James LLP

Delaware Corporate and Commercial Case Law Year in Review: 2020

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This top ten list summarizes significant decisions of the Delaware Supreme Court and the Delaware Court of Chancery over the past calendar year. Our criteria for selection are that the decision either meaningfully changed...more

Kelley Drye & Warren LLP

If the Shoe Fits . . . . Defendants in Nine West D&O Litigation Fail to Convince Judge to Dismiss Claims for Breach of Fiduciary...

A recent decision by Judge Jed Rakoff of the Southern District of New York highlights the risks faced by directors and officers of companies in financial distress who fail to undertake properly their duties to the company and...more

White & Case LLP

AI in the boardroom: opportunities and challenges

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Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly transforming business processes and strategies across industry sectors. Companies are figuring out how to take advantage of AI, focusing primarily on customers' needs and...more

Winstead PC

Court Addressed A Shareholder Derivative Suit Against Officers And Directors For Self-Interested Transactions, Misuse Of Company...

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In Roels v. Valkenaar, a shareholder filed a shareholder derivative suit against former and current officers and directors of the company based on multiple claims of breach of fiduciary duty. No. 03-19-00502-CV, 2020 Tex....more

Troutman Pepper

Fraud on the Board II: Conflicted CEO Tilts Company Sale in PE Firm’s Favor

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In In re Mindbody, Inc. Stockholders Litigation, the Delaware Court of Chancery declined to dismiss breach of fiduciary duty claims against the chief executive officer of MINDBODY, Inc. (the Company) arising out of the...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

A Brief Response Regarding Stakeholder Governance

The recently published “The Friedman Essay and the True Purpose of the Business Corporation” defends a view of stakeholder governance that reflects the following two basic flaws...more

Perkins Coie

PIPE Transactions: Key Considerations for Issuers and Investors

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During uncertain times, public companies may find themselves in need of additional capital, but a traditional follow-on underwritten public offering may be out of reach or considered too risky. Alternative ways to access the...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Stockholders Versus Stakeholders — Cutting the Gordian Knot

Directors of most for-profit U.S. corporations have long considered the corporation’s relationships with customers, employees, suppliers and the communities in which they operate — sometimes referred to as “stakeholders” — in...more

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