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Corporate governance at Pinterest: time for more changes?

Rita J. Shea-Van Fossen (Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA)
Lisa T. Stickney (Department of Management and International Business, Merrick School of Business, The University of Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland, USA)
Janet Rovenpor (O'Malley School of Business, Manhattan College, Riverdale, New York, USA)

Publication date: 23 October 2023

Issue publication date: 2 July 2024

Abstract

Research methodology

Data for the case came from public sources, including legal proceedings, court filings, company press releases and Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Case overview/synopsis

In June 2020, former Pinterest employees made public charges of gender and racial discrimination. Despite changes implemented by the company, several Pinterest shareholders filed derivative lawsuits charging the company with breach of fiduciary duty, waste of corporate assets, abuse of control and violating federal securities laws. The case provides an overview of the company’s management, board and stock structures, as well as information on the shareholders who sued the company and their concerns. The case raises substantial questions about management’s and board member’s responsibilities in corporate governance, illustrates how stock structures can be used to impede governance and suggests ways to evaluate activist shareholders.

Complexity academic level

This case is appropriate for graduate, advanced undergraduate or executive education courses in strategy, corporate governance or strategic human resources that discuss corporate governance, fiduciary responsibilities, designing workplace culture or management responses to shareholders. Instructors can apply two sets of theories and frameworks to this case: theories of corporate governance and Hirschman’s (1970) exit, voice or loyalty framework in the context of shareholder activism.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Disclaimer. This case is intended to be used as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a management situation. The case was compiled from published sources.

Citation

Shea-Van Fossen, R.J., Stickney, L.T. and Rovenpor, J. (2024), "Corporate governance at Pinterest: time for more changes?", , Vol. 20 No. 4, pp. 890-916. https://doi.org/10.1108/TCJ-07-2023-0173

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited

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