He breached confidentiality and kept most of his equity – here's where the employer overreached
A Delaware court ruled an affordable housing firm went too far when it cancelled a fired executive's full equity stake for cause.
Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery granted summary judgment to William Blodgett on May 13, 2026, ending the liability phase of a four-year dispute with Fairstead Capital Management and FCM Affordable. The remedy phase is next.
Blodgett co-founded Fairstead in October 2013 with hedge fund manager Stuart Feldman, the firm's primary backer, and Feldman's personal attorney Jeffrey Goldberg, who took the CEO seat. Blodgett ran day-to-day operations. As the business grew, he and colleague John Tatum decided they deserved a bigger equity slice and worked two parallel plans – restructure Fairstead with themselves in control, or leave and start a competitor.
According to the opinion, Blodgett used a personal email account to share confidential Fairstead information with two billionaire family offices linked to his in-laws, the Sussman Office and the Tisch Office. The material included internal valuations, financial projections, business plans and training materials.
The opinion catalogues a cascade of red flags. Tatum downloaded 2,300 files from company servers. Junior team member Billy Kreinik later downloaded another 2,800. Blodgett pulled 1,100 files including pricing models and due diligence checklists. He pushed Feldman for...
“When companies use kickbacks to influence prescribing, they erode trust in healthcare providers,” said special agent Helsing. Takeda Pharmaceuticals, U.S.A. Inc has agreed to $13,670,921 amid alle...