In re The Limited, Inc. Shareholders Litigation

The Limited's founder and controlling shareholder Leslie Wexner (defendant) and a trust he controlled agreed not to participate in a company stock-repurchase plan announced at $50-55 per share while simultaneously having the board rescind an earlier redemption agreement favorable to the trust; shareholders (plaintiffs) sued derivatively without making a pre-suit demand, alleging the repurchase and rescission constituted waste and breached the duties of care and loyalty, against a twelve-member board that included Wexner's wife and several directors receiving substantial annual payments or benefits from the company or from Wexner personally (including $1.8 million salaries, a $400,000-per-year music contract, and a $25 million university donation Wexner had solicited for one director's institution).