• General
  • March 17, 2019
  • 5 minutes read

Investors Reportedly Call For A Do-Away With Lyft’s Dual-Class Share Plan

Lyft co-founder and CEO Logan Green Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for TechCrunch According to the Financial Times, investors in…

Lyft co-founder and CEO Logan Green

Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for TechCrunch

According to the Financial Times, investors in Lyft, including pension funds, union and asset managers are calling on Lyft’s board to do away with a proposed dual-class share plan, that’ll give its founders majority control of the company – despite owning less than 10% of total shares together – in an IPO scheduled for soon time.

Earlier this month, Lyft unveiled its S-1 filing that revealed plans to form a new class of shares that’ll carry 20 votes each. That’ll give is founders – Logan Green and John Zimmer – major voting power that will surpass that allocated for their roughly 7% collective ownership of the company.

(From L-R) Lyft co-founders Logan Green and John Zimmer

image : Zimride Crew on Flickr  

According to FT, the investment groups called for Lyft to stick to a single share calss with one vote each when it debuts on the public markets later this month. Failing that, they called for a “sunset” arrangement to do away with the extra voting rights in a seven year span. “Lyft is imposing unnecessary and uncompensated investment risk on potential shareholders both by switching to a dual-class structure and by failing to commit to one-share, one-vote by a certain date,” a letter seen by FT said.

“With a dual-class structure, Lyft is basically shielding itself and company insiders against shareholders who deserve a voice. Outsized control among an unaccountable few is an unnecessary risk — and Lyft should go back to the drawing board,” New York City comptroller Scott Stringer – who oversees the city’s pension fund – said.

Investors calling for this change include BNP Paribas Asset Management, UK’s Local Authority Pension Fund Forum, the Teamsters union, United Auto Workers retirees, and pension funds representing public employees in Los Angeles, Ohio, Chicago and New York. They collectively manage some $3.2 trillion in assets.


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