Meyer To Go After ‘Third Rail’ Of Delaware Politics?

That ‘third rail’ being the corporate golden egg that fills the state’s coffers:

Delaware’s budget depends on more than $2 billion brought in by its leading corporate franchise work, which helps to keep the cost of living lower for residents. A recent spate of high-profile corporate departures has unnerved state leaders, however, and now reforms may be in the cards for the first time in years.

Delaware’s business and legal scene is unsettled following new reports of high-profile companies contemplating Delaware corporation departures, and following what some in the community believe is a troubling appetite for reform by Gov. Matt Meyer’s new administration.

Ah, yes, ‘some in the community’.  Those who quake whenever Musk opens his big yap:

“Companies are flooding out of Delaware, because the activist chief judge of the Delaware court has no respect for shareholder rights,” he wrote on X on Feb. 1, referring to Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick who presided over his two latest cases.

As in Musk’s self-proclaimed right to bank obscene compensation, as if he needed it.

The flurry of news prompted the development of a new term “DExit,” referencing those companies leaving Delaware with a nod toward Brexit, and increased scrutiny in the press and on social media.

“Ever since the judicial activism against Tesla shareholders, I redirected the incorporation of the last four companies I’ve bought or started to Nevada. Activism has a price and DE will pay it as fewer companies pick them. There’s just too much risk to be incorporated in DE anymore,” Palihapitiya added on X.

Yes, the risk of scrutiny from the press and social media in a state that prides itself on hiding its secrets from its citizens.  AKA The Delaware Way.  Which has always depended on bipartisan secrecy.

That climate of criticism grew last year, when the state legislature approved amendments to the Delaware General Corporate Law that supported deals cut by controlling shareholders. While the corporate bar supported the changes, the state’s judiciary and a number of law school professors opposed them.

Meyer’s involvement in this remains unclear, especially due to how TransPerfect funded a significant portion of Meyer’s campaign:

With the First State finding itself the topic of national conversation, Gov. Meyer appeared on CNBC and NewsNation in the past week, and was interviewed by Business Insider to try to rebuff the narrative.

In each interview, Meyer asserted that “there need to be changes.”

“We need to make sure that every litigant who comes into Delaware’s very unique and special Chancery Court .. needs to get a fair shot. We’re looking at it. You’re going to see changes coming in the coming weeks,” he said on NewsNation on Sunday.

Yet the closeness of the TransPerfect-aligned group and Gov. Meyer, who benefited from its $1 million of campaign advertising blitzes against his foremost primary election rival, former Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long, has also drawn skepticism in the legal community. Shawe attended Meyer’s inauguration.

When asked about the concern from Delaware’s corporate law industry over those ties and his appetite to reform the courts, the governor’s office downplayed any connection to Shawe.

“The Delaware Judiciary is the best in the nation. Between our Judges and our jurisprudence, we are the best place in the world to incorporate. That’s why nearly 70% of Fortune 500 companies incorporate here. However, it is the Governor’s job to protect our revenue streams, make sure our laws are keeping up with the competition, and listen to stakeholders. The Governor will always prioritize protecting Delawareans above all else and that’s exactly what he’s doing,” said Nick Merlino, the governor’s deputy chief of staff.

If I sound less than certain about what should be done, that’s because I’m less than certain about what should be done.

You may not be, though.  So, whaddayathink?