Rick Alexander: On the Rise of PBCs in the AI Industry and Firm-Specific vs. Diversified Investor Duties

Feb 17, 2025

55:08

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Episode notes

(0:00) Intro.

(2:20) Start of interview. *Reference to prior episode with Rick (E14 from Aug 2020)

(3:32) Update on Public Benefit Corporations (PBCs) from prior episode (2020)

(6:00) Surge of VC investments in PBCs driven by AI startups. *Reference to E159 with David Berger on Anthropic's structure

(9:48) The OpenAI Controversy (conversion from non-profit to PBC)

(13:25) On Dual-Class Share Structures in tech companies

(17:10) On Danone and BP as examples of shareholder activism from hedge funds.

(18:57) On "Stay private vs Go Public" debate. *Reference to E157 with Tom Callahan, CEO of Nasdaq Private Market

(27:17) On the current ESG/DEI backlash ("I think it's an anti-shareholder backlash")

(30:52) On the current backlash against Delaware as the favored corporate home

(35:26) The McRitchie v. Zuckerberg Case (firm-specific vs diversified equity investors' fiduciary duties)

(46:54) On the concentration of power by institutional investors *Reference to E118 with John Coates, from Harvard Law School. Reference to Freshfield's report A Legal Framework for Impact (2021)

Rick Alexander is the CEO of Shareholder Commons. He is also a leading expert in public benefit corporations.

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