Richard Blake: Key Takeaways from the 2025 Silicon Valley 150 Governance Report
Description
(0:00 ) Intro.
(1:27 ) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.
(2:14 ) Start of interview. *Reference to prior episodes/reports with Richard (E126 from Feb 2024 and E158 from Dec 2024)
(3:11 ) AI dominance in public and private markets
(4:14 ) About WSGR's 2025 SV150 Corporate Governance Report. Major Findings in DEI Disclosure (impact on board diversity)
(12:25 ) Broader ESG Changes and Challenges to SEC Climate Disclosure Rule
(16:03 ) California approach to climate risk disclosures (SB 253 and SB 261) and greenhouse gas emissions disclosure
(19:04 ) State vs. Federal Regulatory Landscape
(21:13 ) On SEC's change of policy relating to mandatory arbitration bylaws
(23:41 ) SEC Changes Under Chair Atkins: changes in exec comp disclosures and removing quarterly reporting
(27:18 ) SEC Changes to Rule 14a-8 proposals
(29:23 ) On Lack of Minority Party SEC Commissioners
(32:30 ) Delaware vs. Other States on Corporate Incorporations
(39:26 ) Other findings from the 2025 report. Including on dual-class shares and sunset provisions.
(41:12 ) The State of Private Markets, IPOs and VC
(49:55 ) Biggest winner in business in 2025
(50:55 ) Biggest loser in business in 2025
(53:00 ) Biggest business surprise in 2025
(54:32 ) Best and worst corporate governance trend from 2025
(58:18 ) What’s the biggest corporate governance trend to watch out for in 2026
Richard Blake is a partner at Wilson Sonsini and the leader of the firm's public companies’ practice.
You can follow Evan on social media at:
X: @evanepstein
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/
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Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License
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