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Fiduciary Duty Entire Fairness Standard Business Judgment Rule

Hogan Lovells

Delaware Supreme Court applies business judgment rule in litigation claiming speculative benefits to the board

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The Supreme Court of Delaware reversed the Court of Chancery's application of the entire fairness standard to a company's decision to redomesticate. In the proceedings below, the minority shareholders of TripAdvisor, Inc. and...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Delaware Chancery Court Dismisses Claims Subject to Entire Fairness

On May 9, 2025, in Roofers Local 149 Pension Fund v. Fidelity National Financial, Inc. et al., the Delaware Court of Chancery granted a pre-trial motion to dismiss, even though the claims alleged a conflicted controller...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

Hogan Lovells

Delaware Supreme Court clarifies entire fairness standard for controlling stockholder transactions

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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

Goodwin

Delaware Supreme Court Holds That Boards Must Satisfy the MFW Framework in Controller Transactions to Obtain Business Judgment...

Goodwin on

In 2014, the Delaware Supreme Court held in Kahn v. M&F Worldwide Corp. (“MFW”) that a court will apply the entire fairness standard of review to freeze-out merger transactions between a controlled corporation and its...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

BCLP on

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

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

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

Hogan Lovells

Joseph Lawrence Ligos v. Isramco, Inc.: Court dismisses breach of fiduciary duty claims

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In Joseph Lawrence Ligos v. Isramco, Inc., et al., C.A. No. 2020-0435-SG (Del. Ch. Nov. 30, 2022), the Delaware Court of Chancery granted a motion to dismiss a shareholder class action complaint alleging that the members of...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

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

Morris James LLP

Entire Fairness Standard Applies Where Controller Has Substantive Discussions with Minority Stockholders before Agreeing to MFW...

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In re HomeFed Corporation Stockholder Litigation, C.A. 2019-0592-AGB (Del. Ch. July 13, 2020) - This case illustrates that the Court of Chancery will apply the entire fairness standard to review a squeeze-out merger by a...more

Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP

Down-Rounds and Other Insider Financing: How to Minimize Your Fiduciary Risk

The United States and the world are in the midst of a pandemic and a resulting economic crisis of massive proportion, with most businesses, including many venture capital and private equity backed companies, experiencing...more

Robinson & Cole LLP

Financially Distressed Businesses: Revisiting the Business Judgment Rule and the Entire Fairness Doctrine

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Overnight, seemingly-healthy companies have seen their business models collapse, revenues evaporate, cash reserves dwindle, and valuations impaired. Some corporate boards, which in recent memory have focused almost...more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

Financing a Distressed Private Company – De-Risking Inside Rounds

During economic downturns, private technology companies often seek emergency funding from existing VC and growth equity investors. These financings, sometimes called “inside rounds,” create conflicts of interest for boards...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Ab Initio 2.0: Even Without a Controller, Special Committees Must Be Formed Before Economic Negotiations Begin

Troutman Pepper Locke on

On February 27, the Delaware Court of Chancery issued important guidance to boards of directors seeking to utilize special committees of disinterested and independent directors to insulate themselves from fiduciary liability...more

Womble Bond Dickinson

Recent Director and Executive Compensation Lawsuits Heighten Need for Robust Corporate Governance

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Over the past two years, there has been an uptick in the number of lawsuits challenging director and executive compensation. Cases such asIn Re: Investors Bancorp, Stein v. Blankfein, Hertz v. Frissora and, most recently,...more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

What's New in Corporate Governance and Securities Law - October 18, 2019

Corporate Governance and Securities Law Developments - Directors Can Be Held Liable for Failure to Oversee “Mission Critical” Regulatory Compliance - On October 1, the Delaware Court of Chancery refused to dismiss a...more

A&O Shearman

Delaware Court Of Chancery Applies Entire Fairness Standard To Breach Of Fiduciary Duty Claim Arising From Asset Sale That...

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On October 11, 2019, Vice Chancellor Kathaleen S. McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery dismissed all but one claim arising out of an asset sale by Pro Performance Sports, LLC (“Pro Performance”) to private equity firm...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Makes Post-Trial Award of $22K in Damages for $5.3 Million Fiduciary Breach Claim, and Orders an Accounting for...

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Avande Inc. v. Evans, C.A. No. 2018-0203-AGB (Del. Ch. Aug. 13, 2019). A director of a Delaware corporation who stands on both sides of a challenged transaction must prove the entire fairness of the transaction. ...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Allows Claims to Proceed Against Stockholder Subjecting It to Entire Fairness Review

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An “allegation that a transaction involves a controlling stockholder who stands on both sides is a serious one because it imposes fiduciary duties on the controlling stockholder and potentially strips directors of the...more

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