OPINION

Dear Friends, 

Folks, the spotlight is shining brighter than ever on Delaware’s Chancery Court. After years of perceived corruption, the price will be paid. Elon Musk and Phil Shawe, both fleeced by this court, are now bringing more attention than ever. In my opinion, the court was a joke during the TransPerfect trial and now has gone off the deep end in the way Musk and Tesla are being treated. Will Kathaleen McCormick give her future employers a $6 billion payday, after saying $60 million was too much for Musk, but it’s somehow OK for attorneys to ask for $6 billion??! These chickens are coming home to roost. NOW people with resources are watching. I hope Musk and Shawe come in with a big broom and sweep out these, as I see it, corrupt rats. Read the New York Post story below and see how bad it’s getting! Please send your feedback. It is always appreciated. 

Respectfully Yours, 

JUDSON Bennett–Coastal Network

https://nypost.com/2024/04/08/business/ceo-takes-out-2m-ad-campaign-hit-on-anti-business-delaware/

Blame Delaware: CEO defends Elon Musk, takes out $2M ad campaign hit on ‘anti-business’ state

By 

Lydia Moynihan

Published April 8, 2024, 5:01 p.m. ET

Forget the First State — call it the Worst State.

One CEO launched a $2 million bid Monday to dirty up Delaware’s boring reputation and encourage America’s corporations to stop registering there despite its business-friendly taxes and court system.

Philip Shawe is spending big on a national attack ad after a bruising court battle which made him a sworn enemy of the state best known as the home of Joe Biden.

He is not its only enemy. Elon Musk has also lashed out at Delaware, specifically its courts, claiming they’re bad for the businesses which register there after he lost his own court battle over his planned $56 billion compensation package from Tesla.

Phil Shawe, CEO of Trans Perfect, standing in front of a window with a cityscape background in his office on Park Avenue

Phil Shawe, CEO of translation company TransPerfect, is spending big on an attack ad on Delaware after a bruising court battle in the state. Natan DvirShawe, CEO of translation giant TransPerfect, is slamming what he calls Delaware’s “greedy” lawyers and singling out one of its most senior judges in ads aired nationally on CNBC and Bloomberg. The ads are running on local television stations and on Hulu accounts in Delaware.

Shawe’s campaign comes after his business was seized and then auctioned off by a Delaware court after his co-founder and now ex-wife filed a suit in the state, where they had incorporated it.

He was able to buy back the company as its sole owner for $385 million, at the cost of four years further legal battling and an estimated $260 million in legal fees. He is still tussling with the state over attorneys’ fees.

Shawe’s ad highlights Musk’s case, in which Delaware’s courts sided with a Tesla shareholder’s lawsuit which claimed the CEO’s cash-and-stock compensation package was not in the interest of all the company’s stockholders.

In Delaware, attorneys typically get 10% to 20% of a portion of what they “recovered” for shareholders, giving the lawyers who brought the Tesla suit an up to $6 billion payday — which Shawe said worked out to $300,000 per hour for each of them.

“The only thing I can think of that is more irrational and unpredictable for business law, than a court voiding an otherwise binding contract for executive compensation, that was ratified by both the board and shareholders—would be for that same court to turn around and reward the attorneys with a fee based on a percentage of value of the voided contract,” Shawe told The Post.

His ad attacks the judge who handled both Musk’s case and parts of his, Kathaleen McCormick, claiming she is allowing “fat cat” lawyers to run rampant. McCormick is Chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery, making her the most senior judge in its commercial courts.

Delaware has historically been a state where businesses incorporate — or legally register — in part because of having a chancery court system dedicated solely to adjudicating corporate disputes. Companies registered there but not doing business in the state pay no corporate income tax, and officers and directors affiliated with a company are not required to disclose their names.

More than 1.4 million companies are registered in Delaware, including a majority of the Fortune 500. But the ruling against Musk led to calls for “Dexit” and claims the state is anti-business.

Earlier this year Musk posted to X, “Never incorporate your company in the state of Delaware.” He has said he plans to move X, Neuralink and SpaceX out of the state.

Kathaleen McCormick in judicial robes in front of bound leather books, an American flag and part of a blue flag.

Shaw’s ad also takes aim at Delaware’s most senior commercial courts judge, Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick, who oversaw Musk’s case and part of Shawe’s. Delaware Court of Chancery

Shawe is helping organize the campaign via the Citizens for Judicial Fairness, a nonprofit previously known as Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware, that he founded in 2016 during his legal battle with Delaware.The group says it is focused on transparency, equity, and accountability — and has even brought in the Rev. Al Sharpton to slam the lack of diversity on the court.The Post has reached out to McCormick for comment.