GitLab Founder, Board Hit With Investor Suit Over Stock Buybacks

A GitLab Inc. co-founder pushed the software firm into a $400 million buyback program in a bid to regain corporate control “without spending a penny of his own,” a lawsuit says.

An investor sued company chairman Sytse Sijbrandij and other board members Monday, saying the corporate repurchases would push his voting power back above the 50% line after a selling spree that earned him $64 million. The buybacks would immediately increase Sijbrandij’s ownership percentage—by directly reducing the overall number of outstanding shares—while also delaying the sunset of his supervoting Class B shares, according to the complaint filed in Delaware’s Chancery ...