Taking the Dole Company private in 2013 was nothing new to David H. Murdock, the nonagenarian billionaire who first bought out the fruit seller in 2003.
But the second time, according to a Delaware judge, Mr. Murdock went too far.
The judge found on Thursday that Mr. Murdock, the company’s chief executive, and a top lieutenant fraudulently drove down the company’s stock price so he could buy the business at a cheaper price in its 2013 leveraged buyout.
In his opinion, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Court of Chancery in Delaware ordered Mr. Murdock and the company’s former chief operating officer, C. Michael Carter, to reimburse other shareholders $148 million. That is one of the largest amounts awarded in a lawsuit tied to a merger.
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