As Musk Calls for Exodus, Value of Delaware Law Proves Elusive

Shareholders challenging corporate shifts from Delaware to laissez-faire Nevada are struggling to prove the maneuvers steer value to insiders.

Driven by laxer accountability rules and goaded by Elon Musk, several high-profile companies have relocated to the Silver State, which is trying to lure corporate bigwigs repelled by Delaware’s crackdown on self-dealing. Two of them, TripAdvisor Inc. and Trade Desk Inc., were hit with novel court challenges.

The dynamic has fueled a divisive discourse on whether the moves represent a self-contained problem or the start of an exodus. But Delaware’s judges have a more immediate concern: Even when it’s ...