Author Archives: Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation

Unicorn Stock Options—Golden Goose or Trojan Horse?

Eight years ago, the idea that a venture capital (VC) backed startup could reach an aggressive valuation of over $1 billion without going public was inconceivable. But today the Wall Street Journal, Fortune Magazine, CNNMoney and CB Insights, each keeps a list of such companies and their valuations, and the list keeps growing. With the […]

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Fake News: Evidence from Financial Markets

An increasing number of professional and retail investors obtain information about financial markets from knowledge sharing platforms. For example, a 2015 study by Greenwich Associates found that 48% of institutional investors use social media to “read timely news.” While crowd-sourced outlets can lower the cost of information acquisition and speed its dissemination, they also provide […]

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Confronting a New Agency Problem

2016 Nobel Laureate Oliver Hart and Professor Luigi Zingales have recently published an article justifying companies’ pursuit of social objectives at the expense of profits from within the shareholder primacy framework. They argue that in cases in which shareholders have social preferences besides maximization of profits, the maximization of their welfare requires managers and the directors […]

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Weekly Roundup: September 14-20, 2018

CEO Pay Trends Posted by Alex Knowlton, Equilar Inc., on Friday, September 14, 2018 Tags: Equity-based compensation, Executive Compensation, Firm performance, Incentives, Long-Term value, Management, Pay for performance, Performance measures, Say on pay Would a Shift to Semiannual Reporting Really Affect Short-Termism? Posted by Cydney Posner, Cooley LLP, on Friday, September 14, 2018 Tags: Accounting, Disclosure, Donald Trump, Earnings disclosure, Financial reporting, Form 10-K, Long-Term value, Regulation S-K, Reporting regulation, SEC, Securities regulation, Short-termism SEC No-Action Letters Related […]

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Unfair Exchange: The State of America’s Stock Markets

Thank you so much, J.W. [Verret] and Ty [Gellasch], for that incredibly kind introduction. It’s a real honor to be here with you both today at George Mason, talking about the only issue you two have ever agreed on. Literally. They say that politics makes for strange bedfellows, and, for reasons that will soon become […]

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Expulsion of LLC Member

On August 13, 2018, Vice Chancellor Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery ordered Domain Associates, LLC (“Plaintiffs,” “Domain,” or the “Firm”), a venture capital firm, to pay its former member, Nimesh Shah (“Defendant” or “Shah”), the fair value of his 12.1% member interest as of the date he was forced to withdraw from […]

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The Law and Economics of Environmental, Social, and Governance Investing by a Fiduciary

Trustees and other fiduciary investment managers are under increasing pressure to consider environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) factors in their investment decisions. For example, some charitable endowment managers, including those at Harvard and Stanford, face demands to divest from fossil fuel companies. Trustees and other fiduciaries of private trusts and pension funds face similar pressures […]

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Private Equity and Blockchain: New Infrastructure or New Asset Class?

Growth in applications for blockchain and tokenisation, combined with an increasing number of initial coin offerings (ICOs), mean that buyout firms should note developments in this sector. Why Should PE Be Interested in Blockchain? A shared blockchain ledger could drive a single interface between a PE fund and its investors, increasing transparency and efficiency, providing real-time […]

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Glass Lewis Response To SEC Statement Regarding Staff Proxy Advisory Letters

The proxy advisor no-action letters, issued in 2004 to Egan-Jones and ISS, described the duty of investment advisers to ensure their proxy advisor(s) have the capacity and competency to adequately analyze proxy issues. While the SEC withdrew these no-action letters yesterday, the law in this area has not changed. Indeed, it has always been the […]

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Growth in CEO Pay Since 1990

The following chart sets forth CEO pay at large U.S. companies for 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2016. In addition, the chart projects CEO pay for 2020. Median CEO Pay at Large U.S. Companies Year $ Millions Change from 1990 1990 $2.2 0% 2000 $9.4 317% 2010 $9.9 341% 2016 $12.1 438% 2020 (Projected) $13.8 514% […]

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