Mark Zuckerberg will testify in court later this month to defend his plan to create non-voting Facebook shares (FB)

pulse

September 10, 2017 8:43 AM

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify in court for the shareholder lawsuit challenging his plan to create a new class of non-voting Facebook stock.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify on the witness stand later this month, a rare and high-profile courtroom appearance as his company defends a controversial plan to give shareholders non-voting stock.

Zuckerberg is scheduled to publicly testify in Delaware Chancery court on September 26, 2017, officially kicking off a trial that is also expected to include testimonies by Facebook board members Marc Andreessen, Erskine Bowles, Susan Desmond-Hellmann, and Peter Thiel.

The testimony will mark only the second time that the 33-year old Facebook cofounder, ranked the world's 5th richest person by Forbes, testifies in public court.

Originally filed in April 2016, the class action lawsuit seeks to block Zuckerberg's plan to reclassify Facebook's stock structure and create a new class of non-voting shares. The proposed issuing of non-voting, Class-C shares would concentrate Zuckerberg's majority voting rights even as he sells his holdings over time to fund his philanthropic efforts.

So far, the lawsuit's discovery process has surfaced controversial text messages between Zuckerberg and Facebook board member Marc Andreessen, who the plaintiffs have accused of surreptitiously coaching Zuckerberg through a negotiation process with a special committee to win board approval for the stock change.

Another revelation from the discovery process was that Zuckerberg has seriously considered holding some form of public office. Facebook's reclassification proposal included a clause that would let Zuckerberg serve indefinitely in public office while still maintaining control of the company.

"The question is how long is he going to be the full-time CEO of Facebook?" he said. "He’s got so many other interests, will he pursue those?”

Facebook's proposed stock reclassification is pending the outcome of the lawsuit.

Zuckerberg's first time on the witness stand was earlier this year for the lawsuit brought by game maker ZeniMax accusing Facebook's Oculus VR subsidiary of using stolen technology. Facebook was ordered to pay $500 million in damages in that suit, and is currently appealing the decision.

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