Sky Blog
Pay-for-performance is often championed as a possible solution to agency problems, aligning managers’ incentives with shareholder interests. But what happens when solving one agency problem creates another – between the firm and society?
In a recent paper, we develop a …
Corporations play an increasingly active role in lobbying, with a growing focus on influencing government rulemaking. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, corporate lobbying expenditures at the federal level reached a record $3.7 billion in 2024, accounting for 86.3 …
Lawyers for public companies across the world may not have expected this, but a recent UK appellate decision on an Antigua and Barbuda company greatly enhanced global shareholder rights. The reason is straightforward – Antigua is one of a handful …
Whose interests do public pension funds serve? On the one hand, they have a fiduciary duty to maximize value for the pension fund participants whose retirement savings they invest. On the other, they can use their considerable ownership stakes to …
European competitiveness: Following the results of the 2024 European elections and the release of the so-called Draghi-report, European competitiveness has emerged as a key priority and a major stewardship theme. European competitiveness is a broad theme affecting various aspects, ranging …
In a new paper, I offer a comprehensive, empirically grounded reflection on the evolving architecture of corporate governance in Europe, with a particular emphasis on the Italian regulatory and market experience. My focus is on whether tenure voting rights, which
Issues of labor mobility gained significant attention last year following U.S. bans on non-compete agreements. While the debate on non-competes has many dimensions, this post focuses on how to address firm governance, improve labor welfare, and reduce the loss to …
Delaware courts reserve their entire fairness standard of review – the state’s “most onerous standard” – for, among others, cases involving conflicted controllers.[1] In recent years, there is a view that the standard’s application (or at least the procedural …
Activist investors often think that the classification of boards abets sloth, protecting directors from shareholder input. Yet boards understandably value the durability and continuity of multi-year terms, which give them the bargaining power to pursue long-term plans. Companies often try …
The dominant shareholder primacy model of corporate governance makes shareholder wealth maximization both the purpose of a corporation and the only legitimate consideration for decisions by corporate directors. Yet that single-stakeholder model is under attack on several fronts. Numerous scholars …
On March 26, 2025, Delaware Governor Meyer signed into law Senate Bill 21 (“SB21”) updating Delaware’s corporate law. While there has been considerable discussion of whether the bill was beneficial or detrimental to shareholders, we show that there is no …
Shareholder activism has undergone a striking transformation over the past four decades. What began in the 1980s as a brash and often combative movement led by so-called corporate raiders has matured into a sophisticated, globally attuned, and strategically agile phenomenon. …
On April 8, 2025, a sweeping rule issued by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) took effect. The rule imposes restrictions—and in some cases, outright prohibitions—on US companies in connection with certain types of data brokerage, vendor relationships, employment arrangements, …
Founders and early investors increasingly maintain control of companies while holding small economic stakes in them – raising fundamental questions about how Delaware courts can enforce accountability in corporate governance. In a new working paper, I challenge the courts’ …
The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance has announced improvements to its policies for draft registration statements that will be welcomed by both companies and underwriters.
Following recent statements by Acting SEC Chair Mark Uyeda calling for a return to the …
On February 11, 2025, Institutional Shareholder Services, Inc. (ISS) announced that it will be halting consideration of certain diversity factors indefinitely when making vote recommendations with respect to the election and re-election of U.S. company directors under its Benchmark and …
For years, activist investors and corporate governance advocates have fought to eliminate classified boards at public companies. Classified (or staggered) boards, which only allow a portion of directors to be replaced at each annual meeting, are sometimes seen as a …
Venture capital (VC) is a key driver of economic growth. A substantial body of legal and financial scholarship has examined the institutional factors that shape VC activity. In the first of two papers, we build on the idea that the …
The recent market downturn driven by uncertainty on tariffs, domestic policy shifts and the changing geopolitical landscape will continue to create new opportunities for activists in 2025. We highlight below how activism may evolve in the coming months:
Market Volatility …
For decades, artificial intelligence (AI) was the stuff of science fiction. Today, it is fueling one of the biggest investment booms in history. In 2024 alone, venture capitalists poured over $209 billion into AI startups—a 30% jump from the previous …