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Fiduciary Duty Board of Directors Business Judgment Rule

Morris James LLP

Supreme Court Affirms Chancery Rulings in Derivative Litigation Challenging Oracle’s NetSuite Acquisition

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In re Oracle Corp. Deriv. Litig., C.A. No. 2017-0337 (Del. Jan. 21, 2025) - The Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Chancery’s decision in favor of the defendants in a derivative suit challenging Oracle’s acquisition of...more

Baker Botts L.L.P.

Texas Corporations Gain New Governance Tools and Increased Predictability in Shareholder Disputes

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Last week, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law Texas Senate Bill 29, which includes a comprehensive package of amendments to the Texas Business Organizations Code aimed at reinforcing and revitalizing the governance...more

Vinson & Elkins LLP

Actions for Corporations to Obtain the Benefits of Amendments to the Texas Business Organizations Code

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On May 14, 2025, Texas Governor Abbott signed Senate Bill 29 (“S.B. 29”) into law, significantly reforming the Texas Business Organizations Code (“TBOC”) to promote Texas as a preferred state of incorporation for both public...more

Jones Day

Will the 'Business Judgment Rule' Be Bigger (and Better) in Texas?

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On February 27, 2025, Senator Bryan Hughes (R-Tyler) filed Senate Bill 29 (S.B. 29), proposing several corporate reforms designed to cement Texas as the premier business-friendly jurisdiction in the nation. If enacted, S.B....more

Frost Brown Todd

Legislature Takes Steps to Ensure Texas Remains the Most Business-Friendly State in the Union

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On February 27, 2025, Senator Bryan Hughes (R-Tyler) filed Senate Bill 29 (S.B. 29), proposing several corporate reforms designed to ensure that Texas remains the premier business-friendly jurisdiction in the nation. If...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Delaware Supreme Court: Permissive Business Judgment Rule Applies to Corporate Conversions

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everal 2024 decisions by the Delaware Court of Chancery led some prominent corporate leaders to express frustration over perceived increased liability standards for corporate officers and directors, even publicly advising new...more

A&O Shearman

Delaware Supreme Court Holds Business Judgment Rule Applies To Controlled Corporation’s Change Of Corporate Domicile From Delaware...

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On February 4, 2025, the Delaware Supreme Court, on interlocutory appeal, reversed the decision of the Delaware Court of Chancery to deny defendants’ motion to dismiss breach of fiduciary duty claims against directors and a...more

Cooley LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Reverses Chancery Court, Holds Business Judgment Review Applicable to Tripadvisor’s Decision to...

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Delaware corporations contemplating conversion to another state should take note of the Delaware Supreme Court’s recent decision in Maffei, et al. v. Palkon, et al., in which the court ruled that Tripadvisor’s decision to...more

Perkins Coie

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

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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

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

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