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Re:Twitter board adopts poison pill after Musk’s $43B bid to... by eqmvii on Friday April 15, 2022 @07:35PM (#31047276)
They can always do that, by just issuing more shares. In fact, if you buy X shares, the percentage of the company you own could well decline over time. Or increase, in the case of stock buybacks.
Re:Twitter board adopts poison pill after Musk’s $43B bid to... by adsteel_ on Friday April 15, 2022 @07:41PM (#31047326)
Are there guardrails on this? This comment makes it sound like the board can print their own money.
Re:Twitter board adopts poison pill after Musk’s $43B bid to... by JumpCrisscross on Friday April 15, 2022 @08:08PM (#31047567)
> Are there guardrails on this?

If you've ever wondered why corporations have authorized and issued shares, there you go. Increasing the authorized share count requires a shareholder vote. Issuing shares under that cap does not. When shareholders increase the number of authorized shares, they are delegating that decision making to the Board.

It wasn't always like this. But as finance sped up, particularly towards the end of the 19th century, a railroad company which had to hold a shareholder vote to raise emergency equity because their free banking deposits in Nevada went bust would find itself systematically outmaneuvered by the ones who had pre-approval to plug the hole. As a result, most corporations now authorize the maximum number of shares reasonably possible, in almost all cases only moderated by some states' franchise taxes varying by number of shares.

Re:Twitter board adopts poison pill after Musk’s $43B bid to... by avs733 on Friday April 15, 2022 @08:34PM (#31047733)
See also: stock buybacks
Re:Twitter board adopts poison pill after Musk’s $43B bid to... by JumpCrisscross on Friday April 15, 2022 @09:05PM (#31048021)
Buybacks are more a tax quirk than a control mechanism.
Re:Twitter board adopts poison pill after Musk’s $43B bid to... by avs733 on Saturday April 16, 2022 @08:36AM (#31051800)
sorry, fair and true. My point was more how a company can create a difference between issued and authorized shares.
Re:Twitter board adopts poison pill after Musk’s $43B bid to... by Ekaros on Friday April 15, 2022 @07:53PM (#31047424)
There is also question of market demand... There is not telling that those shares actually sell at market price.
Re:Twitter board adopts poison pill after Musk’s $43B bid to... by systemvoltage on Friday April 15, 2022 @07:49PM (#31047398)
So far I've tried to understand the poison pill and there aren't any satisfactory responses, either on HN or elsewhere in the news.

Wikipedia of Shareholder's Rights Plan is skimp in details as well.

Everything I hear ostensibly appears to be "That should be illegal, makes zero sense". So with no good information out there, it seems like no one is an expert at this and making up bullshit.

Re:Twitter board adopts poison pill after Musk’s $43B bid to... by browserman on Friday April 15, 2022 @08:35PM (#31047742)
I'm interested in this assumption that because you do not understand something, no one else must either. Is this a heuristic you apply to all fields of knowledge, or just business law?
Re:Twitter board adopts poison pill after Musk’s $43B bid to... by systemvoltage on Friday April 15, 2022 @08:52PM (#31047895)
Ignoring the snark, this entire thread is full of questions including the top comment.