The latest on the lawsuit in the New York Times.
Great article.
Testimony in the trial was expected to conclude last week but was thrown off course when DaimlerChrysler turned over 61 pages of notes written by former top Chrysler executives during the transaction.
The notes were sealed, though a few scraps emerged in court proceedings, including bullet points like "loss of independence" and "senior management sold out."
DaimlerChrysler's lawyers have suggested that Mr. Kerkorian's claim borders on the absurd. They said that the terms of the deal had been spelled out clearly in writing in an agreement disclosed to shareholders and that Mr. Kerkorian had an insider's view of the transaction through his representative on Chrysler's board.
Yet the Chrysler executives, Mr. Eaton included, also said that they stood by the deal. "I believe it was a merger of equals," Thomas T. Stallkamp, the former president of the Chrysler Group, said at the trial. He was forced out of Chrysler the year after the merger.
But was it a merger of equals? At the trial, Mr. Schrempp called that description "absolutely correct."
"And by telling the truth," he added, "I don't think I can defraud anyone."
Further, he argued, the terms of the contract laid out a division of management for a set period of a few years, and that condition was met; beyond that, he said, no company can permanently cede the right to make management changes.
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