Law360, New York ( December 17, 2014, 12:16 PM EST) -- In In re Zhongpin Inc. Stockholders Litigation (Nov. 26, 2014), the Delaware Chancery Court found that the plaintiffs had pled sufficient facts to raise an inference that Xianfu Zhu, who was the company's founder, chairman and CEO, was a controlling stockholder, even though he owned only 17 percent of the company's stock and had not controlled the directors' decision relating to his going-private bid. Vice Chancellor John Noble's decision appears to have been based on a conclusion that the unusual degree to which Zhu was indispensable to the company as a practical matter precluded the special committee from functioning effectively because — without Zhu's cooperation (which he would not provide) — the committee had no leverage to negotiate a higher price with Zhu and no ability to attract a competing bidder....