Rights of Common Stockholders

What this video covers

• Why statutory voting favors majority shareholders while cumulative voting protects minority shareholders, and how to run the shares times seats math
• What pre-emptive rights actually do, why they are NOT automatic, and how a rights offering (subscription rights) lets shareholders avoid dilution
• The three types of dividends (cash, stock, property) and the tax treatment of each
• Why the board of directors has zero legal obligation to declare common stock dividends, unlike cumulative preferred stock
• When a shareholder can inspect corporate books and records, and what counts as a proper purpose versus harassment or competitive use
• The liquidation priority waterfall: secured creditors, unsecured creditors (including bondholders), preferred stockholders, then common stockholders
• Why debt always beats equity in liquidation, and why common stockholders accept that residual-claim risk in exchange for unlimited upside