Corporate Law in The United States - Corporate Constitution - Shareholder Rights and Duties

Shareholder Rights and Duties

• DGCL §271, shareholders must approve sale of "all or substantially all assets", held in Gimbel (1974) to be those "qualitatively vital to the existence and purpose" of the corporation; which in Katz v. Bregman (1981) was held to include assets under 50% of the company's value

• Ivanhoe Partners v. Newmont Mining Corp., 535 A.2d 1334 (Del. 1987) a shareholder owning over 50% of shares is a controlling shareholder; but actual control may also be present through other mechanisms
• Citron v. Fairchild Camera & Instrument Corp., 569 A.2d 53, 70 (Del. 1989) non controlling shareholders do not owe duties to minority shareholders and may vote their shares for personal gain without concern
• In re Cysive, Inc. Shareholders Litigation 836 A.2d 531 (Del. 2003) Nelson Carbonell owned 35% of Cysive, Inc., a publicly traded company. His associates' holdings and options to buy more stock, however, actually meant he controlled around 40% of the votes. Chancellor held that "without having to attract much, if any, support from public stockholders" Carbonell could control the company. This was especially so since "100% turn-out is unlikely even in a contested election" and "40% block is very potent in view of that reality."
• Kahn v. Lynch Communications Systems, Inc. 638 A.2d 1110 (Del. 1994) Alcatel held 43% of shares in Lynch. One of its nominees on the board told the others, "you must listen to us. We are 43% owner. You have to do what we tell you." The Delaware Supreme Court held that Alcatel did in fact dominate Lynch.