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Controlling Stockholders Board of Directors

Morris James LLP

Chancery Grants Motion to Dismiss Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claims Against Officers in Controlling Stockholder Transaction Subject...

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Kormos v. Playtika Hldg. UK II Ltd., C.A. 2023-0396-SG (Del. Ch. May 3, 2024) - In this decision involving breach of fiduciary duty claims against two officers, the Court granted the individual defendants’ motions to...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Delaware Chancery Court Finds a ~27% Founding Stockholder Is Not a Controller

On July 2, 2024, the Delaware Chancery Court in Sciannella v. AstraZeneca dismissed stockholder claims in connection with the $3 billion merger of Viela Bio and Horizon Therapeutics in 2021. The merger was approved by Viela’s...more

Hogan Lovells

Q1 2024 Quarterly Corporate / M&A decisions updates

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In the first quarter of 2024, Delaware courts issued several noteworthy opinions. The Delaware Supreme Court ruled in In re Fox Corporation/Snap Inc. that corporations do not need to seek votes from each stockholder class to...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Court of Chancery Issues First Dismissal of a SPAC Disclosure Complaint

In January 2022, Vice Chancellor Lori Will of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a groundbreaking opinion in In re MultiPlan Corp. Stockholders Litigation that paved the way for SPAC stockholders to bring direct breach of...more

Hogan Lovells

Palkon v. Maffei: Court permits suit challenging conversion to Nevada corporation

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In Palkon v. Maffei, the Delaware Court of Chancery permitted stockholders to pursue claims that the board of directors of TripAdvisor breached their fiduciary duties in converting TripAdvisor from a Delaware corporation to a...more

Dechert LLP

After Delaware Court of Chancery Subjects Reincorporation Decision to Entire Fairness, Delaware Supreme Court Says Not so Fast

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The Delaware Court of Chancery issued an order in Palkon v. Maffei on February 20, 2024, holding that a decision by the boards of directors and the controller of TripAdvisor, Inc. (“TripAdvisor”) and Liberty TripAdvisor...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

West Palm Beach Firefighters’ Pension Fund v. Moelis & Co.: An Affirmation of Statutory Board Authority

The Delaware Court of Chancery decided two cases recently that may have a significant impact on future corporate action, in each stressing the need for corporate actors to follow statutory requirements, even when in potential...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Clarifies Controlling Stockholder Fiduciary Duties in Sears Litigation

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In re Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores, Inc. S’holder Litig., C.A. No. 2019-0798-JTL (Del. Ch. Jan. 24, 2024) - Here, a special committee of the board supported a plan to liquidate the company’s floundering business...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Corporate Boards Face ESG Pressure From Both the Left and Right

Over the past decade, environmental, social and governance (ESG) topics have featured heavily in social and political discourse. ESG has also become prominent in the boardroom as directors navigate how best to address...more

Mayer Brown

Delaware Chancery Court Invalidates Common Stockholder Agreement Provisions

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In the recent decision West Palm Beach Firefighters’ Pension Fund v. Moelis & Company, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery ruled that certain provisions of a stockholder agreement contravened...more

Foley Hoag LLP

Delaware Court of Chancery Invalidates Certain Rights in Stockholder Agreement Sidelining Board of Directors

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On February 23, 2024, the Court issued an opinion3 invalidating certain provisions of a stockholder agreement, which, in part, contractually constrain the Board’s discretion to exercise control over the business and affairs...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Palkon v. Maffei: Delaware’s Warning Shot to Controlling Stockholders Seeking to Evade Fiduciary Duties by Reincorporating

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In late February, the Chancery Court denied a motion to dismiss a stockholder lawsuit against the controlling stockholder and board of directors of TripAdvisor, Inc., seeking to enjoin a reincorporation of TripAdvisor into...more

Lowenstein Sandler LLP

Corporate Governance Takeaways Following Rescission of Elon Musk’s $55.8 Billion Equity Compensation Package

“Was the richest person in the world overpaid?” That’s how the Delaware Court of Chancery (the Court) began the 200-page opinion in Tornetta v. Musk to rescind Elon Musk’s entire $55.8 billion 10-year equity compensation...more

Jones Day

Controlling Stockholder Exercising Voting Power as Stockholder to "Change the Status Quo" Owes Fiduciary Duties

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The Background: After unsuccessfully trying to convince the special committee not to implement a plan to liquidate a business line, which the controlling stockholder believed would destroy value, the controlling stockholder...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

Dechert LLP

Delaware Court of Chancery’s Rescission of Elon Musk’s US$55.8 Billion Pay Package Signals Expansion of Scrutiny into Potential...

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The Delaware Court of Chancery issued a post-trial opinion, on January 30, 2024, in Tornetta v. Musk, holding that Tesla’s board of directors (the “Board”) breached its fiduciary duties in awarding CEO Elon Musk (with the...more

Jones Day

Delaware Court Applies Traditional Entire Fairness Standard to Very Large Stockholder-Approved, Performance-Based Equity Award

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The Case: A Tesla stockholder sued Tesla's board of directors to rescind a performance-based stock option grant awarded to Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO. The option award was worth a total of $56 billion and offered the opportunity...more

A&O Shearman

Was the richest person in the world overpaid?

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Chancellor Kathleen McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery grappled with this question in a recent derivative lawsuit challenging Tesla’s performance-based equity award with a potential USD55.8 billion maximum value and...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

Fenwick & West LLP

Delaware Chancery Court Orders Recission of Elon Musk Moonshot Grant in Important Case on Transactions with Potential Corporate...

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Background on Moonshot Award Practices - In the years leading up to the slowdown in the IPO markets in late 2021, it had become increasingly common for high-growth technology companies to grant large equity incentive...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Out of Control! What the Elon Musk Compensation Case Reminds Us about Transactions with Controlling Stockholders

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Process still matters.  That’s the main takeaway from the Delaware Court of Chancery’s 200-page opinion striking down Tesla’s 2018 incentive package awarded to Elon Musk.  The court rescinded the incentive package mainly...more

Dechert LLP

Delaware Court of Chancery Identifies Fiduciary Duties and Standard of Review for Controlling Stockholder

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In a landmark decision, In re Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores, Inc. Stockholder Litigation,1 the Delaware Court of Chancery held that a controlling stockholder did not breach his fiduciary duties when he amended company bylaws...more

Moore & Van Allen PLLC

Directors and executives take note: Delaware court voids Elon Musk’s $55B Tesla pay package

”Was the richest person in the world overpaid?” That is the question that the Delaware Court of Chancery answered in its Jan. 30, 2024, decision in the shareholder derivative action Tornetta v. Musk, et al., C.A. No....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

Troutman Pepper

Delaware Court of Chancery Clarifies Fiduciary Limitations on Controlling Stockholder's Exercise of Voting Power

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In a landmark decision, the Delaware Court of Chancery addressed, for the first time, the precise duties that a controlling stockholder owes, and the standard of review that will apply, when a controlling stockholder takes...more

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