Acknowledging the pressures and demands on boards to respond to multiple and sometimes seemingly disparate interests, Skadden's "Stockholders Versus Stakeholders — Cutting the Gordian Knot" explains via a series of basic principles how the notion of "stakeholder" interests factors into the board's fiduciary duties to stockholders under Delaware law. Importantly, in many cases, stakeholder and stockholder interests are likely to be aligned in support of long-term value creation such that director decision-making on relevant stakeholder issues can reap the benefits of the business judgment rule. The firm suggests an oversight approach for the board relative to "stockholder-aligned" interests to facilitate this result.
See our prior reports: "Fiduciary Duty Basics," "Corporate Purpose: Director Duties," and "Benefit Corporations Explained & Timely Revisited," and additional resources on our Director Duties & Liabilities page.