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
2/22/2024
/ Appeals ,
Board of Directors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Business Litigation ,
Commercial Litigation ,
Controlling Stockholders ,
Delaware General Corporation Law ,
Elon Musk ,
Equity Compensation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Rescission ,
Shareholder Votes ,
Shareholders ,
Tesla
Proof that an inspection demand is improperly “lawyer-driven” will overcome a stockholder’s pretextual claim for investigating wrongdoing.
A stockholder does not have a proper purpose for investigating an “ordinary...more
7/7/2023
/ Board of Directors ,
Books & Records ,
Breach of Duty ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Delaware ,
Disney ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Florida ,
Inspections ,
LGBTQ ,
Shareholders
The Delaware Supreme Court affirms the Court of Chancery’s determination that Tesla’s acquisition of SolarCity was the result of fair dealing, reflected a fair price, and was entirely fair—even when the process was...more
In this edition of Dechert’s Securities & Derivative Litigation Quarterly Update, we examine: (1) the Delaware Court of Chancery’s latest post-trial decision showing how the special committee process is critical in the...more
11/2/2022
/ Bad Faith ,
Breach of Duty ,
Burden of Proof ,
Delaware ,
Derivatives ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Due Diligence ,
En Banc Review ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Adviser ,
Minority Shareholders ,
Mortgage-Backed Securities ,
Regulation FD ,
Risk Assessment ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Litigation
The Delaware Court of Chancery issued its decision in In re Tesla Motors, Inc., on April 27, 2022, rejecting claims that Tesla, Inc. CEO Elon Musk breached his fiduciary duties to Tesla’s stockholders as a director and an...more
5/11/2022
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Breach of Duty ,
Business Litigation ,
Controlling Stockholders ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Elon Musk ,
Energy Sector ,
Entire Fairness Standard ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Merger Agreements ,
Purchase Price ,
SolarCity ,
Tesla
In Marchand v. Barnhill et al. (“Blue Bell”),1 the Delaware Supreme Court on June 19 unanimously reversed the dismissal of a shareholder derivative lawsuit against the members of the board of directors and two officers of...more
7/1/2019
/ Appeals ,
Bad Faith ,
Blue Bell Creameries ,
Board of Directors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Caremark claim ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Demand Futility ,
Derivative Suit ,
Dismissals ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Food Poisoning ,
Food Safety ,
Independent Director ,
Listeria ,
Product Recalls ,
Reversal ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Wrongful Death