About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

12 Va. L. & Bus. Rev. 175 (2017-2018)
Oh, Snap: Do Multi-Class Offerings Signal the Decline of Shareholder Democracy and the Normalization of Founder Primacy

handle is hein.journals/valbr12 and id is 175 raw text is: VIRGINIA LAW & BUSINESS REVIEW VOLUME 12 FALL 2017 NUMBER 1 OH, SNAP! DO MULTI-CLASS OFFERINGS SIGNAL THE DECLINE OF SHAREHOLDER DEMOCRACY AND THE NORMALIZATION OF FOUNDER PRIMACY? Kristy Wiehef ABSTRACT This comment examines the recent trend of multi-class share offerings, using the 2017 IPO of Snap, Inc. as a case study of corporate governance issues related to non-voting shares. Multi-class share structures allow companies to rea/iZe significant economic benefits from investor-shareholders while significantly limiting such investors' means to hold management-especially founders-accountable for actions that may undermine shareholder wealth. From the examination of these multi-class stock structures, this piece introduces the theof of 'founder primag as a new, competing theof against the well-estab/shed concepts of shareholder primag and director primag. This comment ultimately argues that the observed movement toward multi-class stock structures mill continue to undermine shareholder democrag in favor of founder primag. I. INTRODUCTION ....................................... .. ...........176 II. MULTIPLE-CLASS VOTING STRUCTURES ..............................178 Kristy Wiehe is a business attorney in California, with experience in corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, and business strategy. She received a B.A. from Stanford University and aJ.D. from UCLA School of Law, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the Entertainment Law Review. She is currently pursuing an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where she also teaches two undergraduate management recitations. Copyright C 2017 Virginia Law & Business Review Association 175

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most