Dolan Sued by Investors

[dlma1]

from Bloomberg:

Cablevision's Dolan Sued by Investor for Interference (Update2)
March 7, 2005 18:26 EST -- Cablevision Systems Corp. Chairman Charles Dolan was sued by a shareholder who wants to block him from interfering with board decisions and to cancel the appointment of four new directors.

I suppose this was inevitable given the heavy-handed way he rearranged the board.

 

[SonicRob]

How can he Sue him

He is Mr. Doaln he could do what every he Wants i Want my Voom i am Pissed and Depressed . If he is being Sued that could hurt him that sucks man now Voom could go dark.

 

[gutter]

Sueing is an American right like voting. I am sure he is sued constantly for one thing or another.

 

[vurbano]

ridiculous. Sell your stock if your not happy. No one is forcing you to own it.

 

[vinnyv07]

I second that....these people deserve to get torn apart. Sell your stock. Man it just seems that Daddy Dolan has alot of cards stacked against him.

 

[jame_g]

ridiculous. Sell your stock if your not happy. No one is forcing you to own it.

Actually it's not ridiculous. The primary responsibility of the officers of a company and the board of directors is to the shareholders. The company has a responsibility to maximize the value of the shares. Even for minority shareholders. Thats why there are so many laws and regulations regarding public companies.

The shareholders are probably on pretty solid ground given everything that has occurred. This could force Charles Dolan to act quicker than he wanted, as well as eliminate some of his new options. If it's only a small number of shares involved, he may be able to settle out of court, however even a small number could force his hand in this situation.

I'm not too surprised about this, I was guessing it would just be a matter of time once the sale was delayed and board members replaced.

 

[67Yv8t]

ridiculous. Sell your stock if your not happy. No one is forcing you to own it.

Amen, I'm with you, where were you when everyone was trash talkin Enron? :shocked

 

[MarcelV]

Actually it's not ridiculous. The primary responsibility of the officers of a company and the board of directors is to the shareholders. The company has a responsibility to maximize the value of the shares. Even for minority shareholders. Thats why there are so many laws and regulations regarding public companies.

ehhmm, if I buy CVC stock, I know I can be outvoted by the Chuck. If I don't like that, I am sorry, I shouldn't buy that stock. It's not hidden that the Dolans can do this. And as shareholder of B stock, guess what, he has the right to vote this way. So, yes, it is ridicolous, IMHO. Shouldn't have bought the A stock. It's almost the same as sueing a casino owner because you lost during a management change. It's not changing the rules. The rules are, he is a Cat B stockholder and can send the board home.

 

[T2k]

Actually it's not ridiculous. The primary responsibility of the officers of a company and the board of directors is to the shareholders. The company has a responsibility to maximize the value of the shares. Even for minority shareholders. Thats why there are so many laws and regulations regarding public companies.

The shareholders are probably on pretty solid ground given everything that has occurred. This could force Charles Dolan to act quicker than he wanted, as well as eliminate some of his new options. If it's only a small number of shares involved, he may be able to settle out of court, however even a small number could force his hand in this situation.

I'm not too surprised about this, I was guessing it would just be a matter of time once the sale was delayed and board members replaced.

While generally speaking Chuck, as the member of the board should do that, Chuck also is The Majority Stockholder, holding B-Class voting stocks which means he has all the rights to delegate certain number of directors.
He did nothing but exercised his rights as a stockholder.

 

[GreatMac]

These are vulture firms :dev , they make their living by filing ridiculous shareholder suits on behalf of their secretaries. Dolan would have been sued if he purchased Voom and he would have been sued if Cablevision closed Voom

 

[jame_g]

The whole point is that by law all shareholders have rights, and that board members and officers of public companies have certain responsibilities. What the shareholders will do is show that their rights were violated by negligent actions of officers/board members of the company. Chucks recent actions and the decisions of the previous board will only strenthen the case for the suing shareholders.

 

[Bruce]

He is Mr. Doaln he could do what every he Wants i Want my Voom i am Pissed and Depressed . If he is being Sued that could hurt him that sucks man now Voom could go dark.

 

[Walter L.]

Maybe one of VOOM bashers of this forum purchased a couple of CVC shares so that he can try to sue Chuck Dolan. DobyMax was that you? LOL.

 

[GreatMac]

The whole point is that by law all shareholders have rights, and that board members and officers of public companies have certain responsibilities.

Jame_g, Dolan Sr. holds a majority of Cablevision shares and he is exercising his right as such to attempt to direct management to act in what may be the best interest of Cablevision.

He believed that Voom was a potential winner for Cablevision and he believes now that he can realize that potential. There is a good argument to be made that the sale of Voom would be more beneficial to Cablevision than simply closing it down and Dolan Sr. is making it.

As I said, the suit is filed by a vulture firm looking for a quick buck. More will come, but they would have come whichever way Voom went.

 

[vurbano]

The whole point is that by law all shareholders have rights, .

Thats right, they have the right to sell. SO they should sell and get on with their lives.

 

[rtt2]

It could turn class action don't forget.

Mr. Spitzer in NY would love tomake an example as well as NY attorney general. Mr. Bloomberg might take interest in this because of the stink Jimmy is putting up over the stadium.

 

[T2k]

The whole point is that by law all shareholders have rights, and that board members and officers of public companies have certain responsibilities. What the shareholders will do is show that their rights were violated by negligent actions of officers/board members of the company. Chucks recent actions and the decisions of the previous board will only strenthen the case for the suing shareholders.

Since you obviously don't want to understand that HE IS THE BIGGEST - VOTING! - STOCKHOLDER, I see no reason to keep repeating myself - see above.

 

[danielle_s]

I wonder if the SEC is going to be watching this so-called lawsuit.

 

[vurbano]

How dare he want to continue that secret voom satellite project thats been going on for over a year now without making public that he wanted to continue it and hence duping the investors because they never had an opportunity to get out. What a ridiculous lawsuit!!!!!! It about as silly as suing mcdonalds because you ate too much.

 

[jame_g]

Since you obviously don't want to understand that HE IS THE BIGGEST - VOTING! - STOCKHOLDER, I see no reason to keep repeating myself - see above.

I totally understand that Charles Dolan the biggest voting stockholder. The suit won't be about that. The suit will be about his negligence to his fiduciary duty to maximize shareholder value as an officer of the company and that he defied a sitting board and took actions that he was directed not to while they were still the sitting board. The new board has the same responsibility even though Chuck exercised his rights to elect them. The fact remains that regardless of your opinion the suit very likely has merit. My question is do you understand the concept, and responsibilities, of a Public Company?