Zuckerberg to testify in trial over voting power

SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook Inc’s chief executive officer is expected to testify later this month in a shareholder suit over voting power, according to a person.

The trial, set to start September 26, will explore whether the board had shareholder interests in mind when it approved a new class of non-voting shares.

The move lets Zuckerberg keep voting control of Facebook even if he sells shares.

He asked for the change so he could give away most of his wealth to charities. But shareholders alleged conflict of interest in a complaint that disclosed an embarrassing episode: director and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen worked with Zuckerberg behind the scenes to pass the change, even though he was on a committee that was supposed to look out for shareholders.

“Facebook is confident the committee will engage in a fair process to negotiate a proposal in the best interests of Facebook and shareholders,” said the company. Bloomberg.