Secured a $153.75 million settlement against Freeport’s Board and advisors for conflicted $20 billion acquisitions
Plaintiff(s):
Shareholders of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, Inc.
Case type / claims:
Derivative action alleging breaches of fiduciary duty by Freeport’s Board for approving acquisitions of McMoRan Exploration Co. and Plains Exploration & Production Co., transactions allegedly riddled with conflicts of interest and designed to benefit insiders with overlapping directorships and personal stakes.
Defendant(s):
Freeport-McMoRan Board of Directors and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC
Jurisdiction:
Delaware Chancery Court
Year:
2015
Outcome:
- Grant & Eisenhofer secured a $153.75 million settlement against defendants — including $137.5 million from Freeport’s Board and $16.5 million from Credit Suisse.
- Included significant governance reforms addressing director independence and executive compensation.
- Entire $147.5 million cash component distributed to shareholders as a special dividend — a historic first in derivative litigation.
- Vice Chancellor Noble praised the result as “an exceptional recovery… one of the largest cash settlements of a derivative action, and perhaps more importantly, the proceeds will largely go to the shareholders.”
