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Business Judgment Rule Controlling Stockholders

Allen Matkins

Court: Nevada Allows Controllers To Vote In Their Own Interest

Allen Matkins on

Yesterday’s post concerned the recent decision by U.S. District Court Judge Charles R. Eskridge in Rowe v. Doris, 2025 WL 963590 (S.D. Tex. Mar. 31, 2025).  The case involved claims arising from the merger of two Nevada...more

Allen Matkins

This Texas Case Illustrates Why Delaware Corporations Are Choosing Nevada

Allen Matkins on

Bright-eyed Athena, the goddess of wisdom, was not birthed of a woman.  Rather, she sprang from the head of Zeus after he swallowed Metis, the pre-Olympian goddess of wisdom...more

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Delaware Enacts Sweeping Changes to the Delaware General Corporation Law

The Delaware Legislature passed, and Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer signed on March 25, 2025, the landmark Senate Bill 21. Senate Bill 21 amends the Delaware General Corporation Law (the "DGCL") in significant ways, with broad...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

In re Oracle Corporation Derivative Litigation: Delaware Supreme Court Affirms Chancery Court Decision Not to Impose Fiduciary...

On January 21, 2025, the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Chancery’s decision in In re Oracle Corp. Derivative Lit., finding that a less than 50% stockholder does not owe fiduciary duties absent evidence of either...more

Perkins Coie

When Is a Minority Stockholder a Controller? The Delaware Supreme Court Reaffirms the Ground Rules in In Re Oracle Derivative...

Perkins Coie on

Controlling stockholders owe fiduciary duties to other stockholders that minority stockholders do not. A holder of over 50% of a corporation’s voting power is clearly a controlling stockholder. As a consequence, transactions...more

Allen Matkins

Is Pareto Optimality The Answer For Controlling Stockholder Transactions?

Allen Matkins on

Yesterday's post concerned the Delaware Supreme Court's decision that the business judgment rule applied to TripAdvisor's decision to reincorporate in Nevada.  Maffei v. Palkon, 2025 WL 384054 (Del. Feb. 4, 2025).  This...more

Jenner & Block

Delaware Supreme Court Clarifies MFW Framework

Jenner & Block on

On April 4, 2024, the Delaware Supreme Court held in In re Match Group Inc., Derivative Litigation that the entire fairness standard of review applies to all controlling stockholder transactions in which a controller receives...more

Hogan Lovells

Delaware Supreme Court clarifies entire fairness standard for controlling stockholder transactions

Hogan Lovells on

In In re Match Group Deriv. Litig., the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the lower court’s decision on the appropriate standard of review and the application of Kahn v. M & F Worldwide Corp., 88...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Expands MFW Applicability in Conflicted Controller Transactions

On April 4, 2024, the Delaware Supreme Court issued a much-anticipated decision, In re Match Group Derivative Litigation (“In re Match Group”), extending the MFW doctrine more broadly to all conflicted controller...more

Mayer Brown

In re Match Group, Inc.: Delaware Supreme Court Clarifies Standard of Review for Controlling Stockholder Transactions

Mayer Brown on

In a recent decision, the Delaware Supreme Court clarified the proper standard to apply to a non-freeze-out merger transaction involving a controlling stockholder. Litigators who practice in the Delaware Court of Chancery are...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Delaware Supreme Court Confirms Dual MFW Protections Are Needed Outside of the Freeze-Out Merger Context for Application of...

Troutman Pepper Locke on

In In re Match Group, Inc. Derivative Litigation, the Delaware Supreme Court held that the dual procedural protections announced in the seminal case of Kahn v. M & F Worldwide Corp. (MFW) are required in order to shift the...more

Lathrop GPM

Delaware Supreme Court Clarifies Standard of Review for Conflicted Stockholder Transactions with In re Match Group Opinion

Lathrop GPM on

On April 4, 2024, the Delaware Supreme Court issued its opinion in In re Match Group, Inc. Derivative Litigation, clarifying that the heightened entire fairness standard of review applies to judicial review of any transaction...more

Vinson & Elkins LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Holds MFW Requires Entirely Independent Committee

Vinson & Elkins LLP on

Thursday, in a much anticipated decision, the Delaware Supreme Court held in In re Match Group, Inc. Derivative Litigation1 that every member of a special committee must be independent in order to satisfy the MFW2 framework...more

Morgan Lewis

Delaware Supreme Court Holds MFW Doctrine Applies to Any Controlling Stockholder Transaction Resulting in Non-Ratable Benefit

Morgan Lewis on

In a case with implications for companies with controlling stockholders, the Delaware Supreme Court held that the MWF Doctrine applies to any transaction involving a controlling shareholder receiving a non-ratable benefit,...more

Venable LLP

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

Venable LLP on

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

Bodman

Shareholder Oppression Claims in Closely Held Michigan Corporations: A Powerful Remedy Against Abuses of Power

Bodman on

Most institutions in our society make decisions upon the consent of the majority, from legislatures passing important bills to families deciding on what movie to watch on movie night. ...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

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

Ballard Spahr LLP on

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...

Goodwin on

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

Morgan Lewis

Delaware Reconsiders Scope of the MFW Doctrine in Match.com Case

Morgan Lewis on

The Delaware Supreme Court heard oral argument on December 13, 2023 in a case that will decide whether transactions involving controlling stockholders outside of the merger context may be subject to deferential business...more

DarrowEverett LLP

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

DarrowEverett LLP on

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 Clears Musk of Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claim

Goodwin on

On April 27, 2022, the Delaware Court of Chancery in In re Tesla Motors Stockholder Litigation rendered a post-trial verdict finding for Elon Musk, co-founder and CEO of Tesla Motors, Inc., on claims that Musk breached his...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...

Morris James LLP on

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

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Recent MFW-Related Developments in Delaware Courts

In 2014, the Delaware Supreme Court’s landmark Kahn v. M&F Worldwide Corp.1 (MFW) decision established that the deferential business judgment standard of review could apply to controlling stockholder “squeeze-out” mergers...more

Gray Reed

Controlling Shareholder’s Discussions with Minority Stockholders Results in Application of Entire Fairness Standard

Gray Reed on

The Delaware Court of Chancery (the Court) in In re Homefed Corporation Stockholder Litigation chronicles a controlling stockholder’s failed attempt to use the protections outlined in Kahn v. M & F Worldwide Corp. (MFW) to...more

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