>" In such a situation, it's likely that GOOGL (class A, with voting privileges) would fetch a very hefty premium over GOOG (class C, no voting privileges), because an activist investor coalition would need to own nearly all the class A shares plus have the support of Sergey or Eric to effect change."
Can voting shares be sold on the open market the same as the non-voting shares? Wouldn't a company that opted for a two tier structure restrict the sale of voting shares as part of their corporate charter? I'm not sure of charter is the correct term here so please correct me if that's wrong.
Sorta. The class-B supervoting shares that Larry/Sergey/Eric own convert to class-A voting shares when they're sold on the open market (I think; it may be class-C nonvoting shares now). The class-A shares retain their voting rights, and trade under a different ticker symbol (GOOGL vs. GOOG).
Can voting shares be sold on the open market the same as the non-voting shares? Wouldn't a company that opted for a two tier structure restrict the sale of voting shares as part of their corporate charter? I'm not sure of charter is the correct term here so please correct me if that's wrong.