My guest today is Richard Blake, a partner at Wilson Sonsini and the leader of the firm's public companies’ practice. In this episode, we discuss the 2024 Silicon Valley 150 Corporate Governance Report, comparing it to last year’s report, which we covered in Episode 126 from February 2024. We examine how the report has evolved and explore the diversity in governance practices across various tiers of companies. We cover a wide range of topics, from activism to board structures, ESG, and clawback policies of SV150 companies. We also discuss the challenge to Delaware status as the favored corporate home, the role of private ordering in shaping governance, and we explore trends from 2024 and what to watch out for in 2025 If you like this show, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing this podcast on social media. You can also contribute by subscribing to the Boardroom Governance Newsletter at evanepstein.substack.com This podcast is sponsored by the American College of Governance Counsel.
(0:00) Intro.
(2:09) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.
(2:56) Start of interview. *Reference to prior episode with Richard (E126 from Feb 2024).
(3:46) About his firm's 2024 SV150 Corporate Governance Report.
(9:04) On Virtual (Stockholder) Meetings (89% of SV150).
(11:23) Board Committee Structures. Audit, Comp, NomGov, and Others.
(14:02) On SV150's approach to ESG, impact of new SEC.
(18:53) On the evolution of boardroom diversity, impact of CA laws and Nasdaq Diversity Rule.
(21:40) Why private ordering will become more important in corporate governance.
(22:28) On dual or multi class share structures (-30% of SV150, and of those, 91% have sunset provisions).
(25:25) On ServiceTitan's compounding IPO ratchet (reference to my article about it). "Governance is a spectrum"
(31:29) On evolution of shareholder proposals in SV150. *Reference to E15 with Jim McRitchie.
(36:30) On shareholder activism (7.4%) in SV150.
(41:41) On the clawback policies of SV150 companies
(48:27) On the backlash to Delaware incorporations and SV moving out of CA. Reference to WSGR's DE's Status as the Favored Corporate Home.
(51:49) Biggest winner in business in 2024
(53:27) Biggest loser in business in 2024
(54:27) Biggest business surprise in 2024
(56:53) Best and worst corporate governance trend from 2024
(58:28) What’s the biggest corporate governance trend to watch out for in 2025
Richard Blake is a partner at Wilson Sonsini and the leader of the firm's public companies’ practice.