When the Walt Disney Co. board needed advice regarding Comcast’s adverse takeover offer for Disney, who did the board call?
When Richard Grasso was negotiating with the New York Stock Exchange Board regarding his compensation package, who did he call?
And when the Morgan Stanley board was considering recently departed CEO Phillip Purcell and his cohort Stephen Crawford’s controversial exit pay packages, who did the Morgan board call?
Martin Lipton, that’s who. This NY Times article profiles the longtime New York merger and acquisitions specialist, who is famous in corporate legal circles for having refined the use of the poison pill anti-takeover strategy. The article is an interesting read on one of the legal profession’s real heavyweights.
As an aside, Mr. Lipton’s place in Texas legal history was cemented back in 1985 when his testimony on behalf of his client Texaco was one of the main reasons that jurors awarded $11 billion to Pennzoil during Pennzoil’s famous lawsuit against Texaco over Pennzoil’s failed bid for Getty Oil. After filing a historic chapter 11 case to avoid paying the resulting judgment, Texaco settled the Pennzoil judgment for $3 billion in 1987, insuring Houston plaintiff’s lawyer Joe Jamail’s place among Texas’ richest lawyers.