Commentary
2026
First Quarter
- Shareholder Proposal Reform Must Center on Facts, Not Philosophy, Bloomberg (January 23, 2026)
- Shareholder Proposals at a Crossroads: What a New Survey Reveals, Columbia Blue Sky Blog (January 14, 2026)
- Warren Buffett’s Governance Philosophy, Practice, and Legacy, Directorship (Winter 2026)
- Warren Buffett gifts us 5 secrets for investing success, as he hands off Berkshire’s reins this week, MarketWatch (January 3, 2026) and Morningstar (January 3, 2026)
2025
Fourth Quarter
- Board Practices and Composition in the Russell 3000 and S&P 500, Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance (December 1, 2025)
- SEC Restraint on Shareholder Proposals to Stoke State Competition, Bloomberg
(November 21, 2025) - Coinbase Disrespects Delaware on Its Way Out, Wall Street Journal (November 12, 2025)
- Restore Corporate Discipline by Reining in Shareholder Proposals, Bloomberg
(October 27, 2025)
Third Quarter
- Brief and Motion of Law Professors, including Director Cunningham, Supporting the Constitutionality of SB21, Delaware Supreme Court (September 12, 2025) [PDF of Brief;
PDF of Motion] - The Big Picture on A Small State: The Charter Competition Debate, Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance (July 31, 2025)
- Why Andreesen Horowitz’s Exit from Delaware Misses the Bigger Picture, USA Today/Delaware Online (July 17, 2025)
- Shining Light on Proxy Advisers Would Boost Accountability, Bloomberg Law (July 10, 2025)
- What Kind of Diversity is Needed on Boards Right Now? Directors & Boards (June 11, 2025)
Second Quarter
- Corporate Governance Competition Pushes Boards Toward Irrelevance, Bloomberg
(May 21, 2025) - Warren Buffett’s Worst Money Mistakes are Actually a Master Class in How to Invest, MarketWatch/MSN, (May 13, 2025)
- Warren Buffett’s Succession Plan Has Begun – Here’s What a Longtime Insider is Watching, MarketWatch and Morningstar (May 9, 2025)
- Buffett Passes the Torch – Here’s What Berkshire Loyalists Should Know, from a Longtime Insider, MarketWatch and Morningstar (May 3, 2025)
- What Is the Furor Behind Delaware SB 21?, University of Chicago, Booth School, ProMarket (April 9, 2025)
- Bridging Board Gaps—Again, NACD Directorship (March/Spring 2025) [PDF]
First Quarter
- Delaware Aptly Balances Certainty and Scrutiny in Corporate Law, Bloomberg (February 24, 2025)
- Despite Musk’s Rebuff, Delaware Must Remain Corporate Law Center, Bloomberg (February 12, 2025)
- From Boom to Backlash: Guiding Directors in a Shifting ESG Landscape, Delaware Business Times (February 5, 2025)
- Directors must transcend the politics of the moment to provide steady oversight and leadership for their companies. Directors & Boards (February 5, 2025)
Books
Selected Books by the Center’s Director
The Essays of Warren Buffett by Lawrence A. Cunningham
Quality Investing, Owning the Best Companies for the Long Term
by Lawrence A. Cunningham
Quality Shareholders, How the Best Managers Attract and Keep Them
by Lawrence A. Cunningham
Margin of Trust
by Lawrence A. Cunningham
2024
Fourth Quarter
- Delaware Corporate Law Debate Feeds a Robust and Balanced System, Bloomberg (December 11, 2024)
- Boardroom Demographic Diversity Hits Record Levels as Substantive Diversity Emerges, Columbia Law School Blue Sky Blog (December 10, 2024)
- Delaware Corporate Law Still Gold Standard Amid ESG Blowback, Bloomberg, (November 21, 2024)
Third Quarter
- Gensler’s Stalled ESG Agenda May Spur Firms to Slow Compliance, Bloomberg Law, (September 11, 2024)
- Navigating the Nuances of Board Diversity in NASDAQ-Listed Companies, Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, (August 21, 2024)
- Should CEOs Speak Out? A Board Framework, The Corporate Board, (July/August 2024)
Second Quarter
- Who Should Be on the CEO Search Committee?, Directors & Boards, (April 2, 2024)
2021-2023
- Key Takeaways from Elon Musk vs. the SEC, Directors & Boards,
(June 2023) - ESG Metrics in Compensation Plans and Executive Employment Agreements, Directors & Boards Newsletter and Magazine (2022-23)
- Why Do Companies Going Public Choose Controversial Governance Structures, and Why Do Investors Let Them?, The Columbia Law School Blue Sky Blog, (June 21, 2022)
- Gender disclosure rules can make a difference, ECGI Blog
- The Impact of a Principles-Based Approach to Director Gender Diversity Policy, Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance’s blog, (September 2021)
2016-2020
- Trading in Textbooks for Newspapers, Directors & Boards,
(July 29, 2020) - T-Mobile’s eccentric CEO isn’t the right person to lead WeWork, CNN Perspectives, (November 18, 2019)
- WeWork for Adam Neumann, Ethical Boardroom Magazine,
(Fall 2019) - THE PURPOSE DEBATE Three Problems With the Stakeholder Theory, Directors & Boards (Third Quarter 2019)
- SOX’s Financial-Expert Requirement 15 Years Later, Directors & Boards Magazine (Annual Report 2018)
- Unequal Voting and the Business Judgement Rule, Harvard law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, (April 17, 2018)
- Snap’s Not Looking to Chat with Shareholders, Directors & Boards Magazine, (Fourth Quarter 2017)
- “On Leadership: An Interview with Kenneth C. Frazier, President & CEO of Merck & Co. Inc., ACC (2017)
- Snap’s Not Looking to Chat with Shareholders, Directors & Boards
- ExxonMobil and the ‘Rexit’ retirement package, Ethical Boardroom, (Spring 2017)
- How Delaware May Be Dethroned and Why It Should Not, Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, (March 31, 2017)
- Climate change and the corporate board: Too hot not to handle?, Directors & Boards, (First Quarter 2017)
- The Government’s giant shadow in the boardroom (PDF), Directors & Boards, (Second Quarter 2016)
2011-2015
- The Compliance Conundrum (PDF), (Ethisphere, Fall 2015)
- The pay ratio rule: Get ready, get going (PDF), Directors & Boards, (Third Quarter 2014)
- Comment Letter – Farm Credit Administration (PDF), (April 2014)
- William P. Lauder on governing the controlled corporation (PDF) Directors & Boards, (Annual Report 2014)
- A New Kind of Captured Board, Directors & Boards, (First Quarter 2014)
- Comment Letter – Securities and Exchange Commission (Pay Ratio Disclosure) (PDF) (December, 2013)
- Peer Groups – Understanding CEO Compensation and a Proposal for a New Approach (PDF) Directors Notes, The Conference Board, (April 2013)
- When Searching for a CEO, there’s No Place Like Home, The Wall Street Journal, (October, 2012)
- Dual Class Stock: Governance at the Edge (PDF), Directors & Boards, (Third Quarter 2012)
- Compensation and the Myth of the Corporate Superstar, Harvard Business Review, (February, 2012)
- What is a CEO worth? Don’t look to peers (PDF) Directors & Boards, (2011)
- Punting Peer Groups: Resolving the Compensation Conundrum (PDF), BNA Corporate Governance Report, (May, 2011)
2000-2010
- The Great Divide (PDF), Directors & Boards, (First Quarter 2010)
- Director term limits come up for review (PDF), Directors & Boards, (Second Quarter 2008)
- Sidney J. Weinberg: The Functions of a Corporate Director: An Address before the Harvard Business School Club of Cleveland, May 31, 1949 (PDG), Directors & Boards (Summer 2003)
- Ed Woolard: A life in governance (PDF), Directors & Boards (Fall 2000)
Research
The Weinberg Center hosts a Research Paper Series on SSRN, featuring more than 100 papers, including those of the Center’s directors and affiliated faculty, as well as its Occasional Paper Series.
SSRN Pages of Weinberg Center Directors:
- Lawrence Cunningham (Presiding Director)
- Laura Field (former Acting Director)
- Charles Elson (founding Director)
Affiliated UD Faculty
- Terry Campbell (Finance)
- Lawrence Cunningham (Weinberg Center)
- John D’Arcy (MIS/Cybersecurity)
- Laura Field (Finance)
- He Gao (Strategy/Corporate Governance)
- Jing He (Accounting/Disclosure)
- Katalin Takaces Haynes (Management)
- Roger Horowitz (History-Hagley)
-
Jerome Lewis (Institute for Public Administration)
- Hamed Mahmudi (Finance)
-
Troy Mix (Institute for Public Administration)
- Dael Norwood (History)
- Kent St. Pierre (Accounting)
- Jonathan Russ (History)
- Wendy Smith (Leadership)
- Fei Xie (Finance)
Asymmetric Learning from CIO Outside Board Roles
Congratulations to our friend and distinguished scholar John D’Arcy on the publication of his latest pathbreaking research on cybersecurity. Read More.
How IPO Prospectuses Shape Performance and Growth
Study, Mandatory Clawbacks May Add Firm Value
Congratulations to our esteemed Lerner College colleague, Hamed Mahmudi, on his latest paper, soon to be published in the Journal of Law and Economics. Read about his latest piece here.
Selected Scholarship
- Who Are Quality Shareholders and Why You Should Care, Delaware Journal of Corporate Law (2023)
- The SEC’s Misguided Climate Disclosure Rule Proposal, Banking & Financial Services Policy Report (2022)
- Bucking the Trend: Why do IPOs Choose Controversial Governance Structures and Why Do Investors Let Them, Journal of Financial Economics (2022)
- At the Table, But Can’t Break Through the Glass Ceiling: Board Leadership Positions Elude Diverse Directors, Journal of Financial Economics (2020)
- The Effect of Director Experience on Acquisition Performance, Journal of Financial Economics (2017)
- E. Merrick Dodd and the Rise and Fall of Corporate Stakeholder Theory, 72 Business Lawyer 735 (2017)
- FMA Roundtable on New Developments in European Corporate Governance, (2017)
- The Bug at Volkswagen: Lessons in Co-Determination, Ownership and Board Structure, Co-authored with Craig K. Ferrere and Nicholas Goossen— 27 Journal of Applied Corporate Finance 36 (2015)
- Surplus, Agency Theory and the Hobbesian Corporation (PDF), Wake Forest Law Review, (2013)
- Executive Superstars, Peer Groups and Overcompensation, Journal of Corporation Law, (2013)
- Report of the Round Table on Proxy Governance (PDF), (2011)
- Report of the Study Group on Corporate Boards “Bridging Board Gaps” (PDF), (2011)