AITA? Majority Shareholder Spends Without Asking
Hello!
I own 7% of a company, a real estate brokerage launched a few months ago. The majority shareholder owns 55%. There are 4 other shareholders with varying degrees of shares.
The company has made money, and so we’re all expecting a dividend at the end of the quarter.
The 55% majority shareholder also owns the parent company of our new company. It’s a far more established brokerage targeting a specifc country.
He recently, without informing any shareholders, spend $84,000 reserving 30 apartments to sell. It was a new launch that was going to sell out quickly, so he felt it best to reserve the units.
He then informed our company about his decision, urging us to sell, sell, sell.
After a few weeks of no sales, and with the parent company also under performing, he reaches back out. He informs us that out of the 30 units, 10 have been sold ny the parent company, and he has allocated 10 to our company. And if we are unable to sell 10 in the next few weeks, the company will bear the cost ($28,000). This would obviously come out of our soon-to-be dividends.
He never consulted us or informed us prior about the purchase, or the fact that he was “allocating” 10 of the units to our freshly launched brokerage.
I am pushing back against this, claiming that he can’t take such action without shareholder approval.
He disagrees, and feels it’s his right, and I should simply trust him on this decision, and future decisions (indicating that this probably won’t be the last time he does this!)
AITA?