In 2023, Saxena White and its co-counsel filed a shareholder derivative action on behalf of their clients for the benefit of NextEra Energy, Inc. (“NextEra”) and its shareholders. The Complaint charged NextEra’s Board of Directors and certain officers with breach of fiduciary duty and waste of corporate assets, in connection with an alleged political influence scheme tied to, among other things, the improper use of “dark money” funding to manipulate public policy favorable to the Company.
Plaintiffs allege that through the scheme orchestrated by Defendant Eric Silagy—then CEO of NextEra’s wholly owned subsidiary, Florida Power and Light Co. (“FPL”)—Silagy and his co-conspirators secretly created and funded ostensibly independent nonprofit organizations and used those entities to: (i) secretly fund “ghost candidates” to siphon votes away from candidates that Silagy viewed as unfavorable to FPL’s interests; (ii) influence FPL’s effort to acquire the Jacksonville Electric Authority; and (iii) take over a formerly independent news outlet to publish stories favorable to the Company and attack journalists and candidates critical of FPL.
The Complaint alleges that in November 2021, a law firm sent NextEra’s then-CEO and a Board member a memorandum supported by “thousands of documents” and addressing “tens of millions of dollars in financial transactions,” which explicitly revealed that Defendants were engaged in “an ongoing scheme . . . to secretly divert corporate resources to off-the-books communications and political campaigns.” Plaintiffs alleged that NextEra failed to disclose this until January 25, 2023, when it finally disclosed to investors the potential legal and reputational risks arising from the dark money scheme, including the risk of material fines, penalties, and regulatory scrutiny. The same day, NextEra announced that Silagy was retiring as FPL’s CEO, while retaining certain NextEra stock and options. The market reacted harshly, with NextEra’s stock price dropping 8.7%, wiping out over $14 billion in market capitalization, the largest independent single-day decline in the Company’s 25-year history.
Over the course of a year, the parties engaged in a number of hard-fought mediation sessions. While the initial mediation was unsuccessful, the parties continued their negotiations, ultimately resulting in the proposed settlement of this action and other related derivative matters. The Stipulation of Settlement resolving these matters provides for a cash payment of $15.5 million to the Company, along with valuable corporate governance reforms that include: (i) appointment of a new independent director; (ii) assignment of oversight responsibility concerning political contributions to the full Board; (iii) enhancements to the Governance and Nominating Committee Charter; (iv) designation of the Company’s Chief Legal, Environment and Federal Regulatory Affairs Officer as Chief Compliance Officer with enhanced responsibilities; (v) enhanced and codified responsibilities of the Political Expenditure Committee; (vi) enhancements to the Company’s Political Engagement Policy; (vii) formalization of the Company’s management-level Disclosure Committee; (viii) reporting hotline enhancements for campaign finance and securities disclosure law violations; and (ix) enhanced employee training on campaign finance compliance requirements.
On September 22, 2026, the Court entered an Order granting Plaintiffs’ motion to issue notice of the proposed settlement and setting an in-person settlement hearing for December 14, 2026, at 3:00 p.m.
For further information, see (1) the Complaint; (2) the Stipulation of Settlement; (3) the Notice and Scheduling Order; and (4) the Summary Notice, linked above.
