Bite-Sized Business Law
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Get a breakdown of the top stories in business law from industry leaders on the front lines with Bite-Sized Business Law. Host Amy Martella takes a closer look at the latest corporate happenings through interviews with the attorneys, legal experts, public figures, and scholars behind the news to distill business law’s biggest stories into bite-sized portions.
This is your chance to go further into the world of business law and stay up to date with legal cases and industry trends.
Corporations impact us all, leading changes that extend far beyond business to shape the economy, public policy, technology, and beyond. Looking at the big picture, Amy discusses not only the underlying issues in business ethics and legal cases leading the biggest stories but also sparks thought-provoking discussions on where the law should be headed.
Amy is the Executive Director of the Corporate Law Center at Fordham University School of Law. Her background ranges from big law to government to tech startups, allowing her to offer an insider’s perspective of the issues that shape corporate actions, large and small. Covering crypto regulation to securities fraud, AI’s impact to Elon Musk’s pay package, Bite-Sized Business Law covers it all with guests of varying viewpoints to provide the nuanced analysis needed to tackle complex problems.
Whether you're looking for the latest in legal insight on intellectual property, mergers and acquisitions, business ethics or legal cases in the business law world, you’ll find it here. Enjoying a thoughtful perspective on the news stories of the moment, Bite-Sized Business Law examines big issues and delivers them in small doses.
Bite-Sized Business Law is a project by the Corporate Law Center at Fordham Law. The Center serves as a hub for scholars, professionals, policymakers, and students to engage in the study, discussion, and debate of current issues in corporate law. The Center focuses on aspects of corporate law, corporate compliance, antitrust law, and securities regulation. Through initiatives like the Mergers and Acquisitions seminar and the Securities Litigation and Arbitration Clinic, students actively engage in real-world research and cases, bridging the gap between classroom learning and practical application in the legal field.
Bite-Sized Business Law
Is Elon Musk overpaid at Tesla? Interplanetary Warfare: Mars vs. Delaware
Today on Bite-Sized Business Law, we discuss the very bad day that Elon Musk had recently as a result of the Delaware Court of Chancery opinion that started with a simple question: “Was the richest person in the world overpaid?” This is the first time that a court of law has overturned a board’s decision on compensation. Here to walk us through exactly what happened (and why) is the esteemed Richard Squire, Professor Of Law at Fordham Law School. Join us as we unpack some of the important considerations raised for boards and independent directors when deciding upon significant compensation awards, why Tesla’s directors maintained a somewhat cavalier attitude concerning the formalities the courts require in these circumstances, and how the sheer size of the grant ultimately influenced the outcome of the decision. We also touch on the precedent that this ruling sets and how it could lead to similar suits against other outrageous CEO pay packages. Be sure to tune in for a fresh take on this “intergalactic corporate conflict!”
Key Points From This Episode:
• The story behind the Tesla compensation package that would have paid Musk $55+ billion.
• Whether or not Musk achieved the benchmarks necessary for payout.
• Reasons shareholders sued him over the payout.
• How Tesla’s stock price has responded to the ruling.
• An overview of the plaintiff’s main argument in this case.
• Why the stockholder vote approving Musk’s grant was deemed “not fully informed.”
• What the Delaware safe harbor provisions are and how they might have been achieved here.
• Important considerations for boards and independent directors when deciding on significant compensation awards like this.
• When it becomes necessary for the courts to step in.
• Grounds for appeal and how this decision will impact corporate negotiation strategies.
• How the eye-watering size of the grant factored into the Delaware court’s decision.
• Ways that this case lays the blueprint for companies to safeguard executive pay.
• Why Musk is mad at Delaware and how he could influence business investment there.
• Insight into the appeal of the Delaware Chancery Court ruling.
• Some of the questions we’d like to see addressed if the case is appealed.
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: