The question was how to persuade ServiceNow’s board to reject the $2.5 billion. The majority wanted to grab the offer with both hands, and Sequoia lacked the power to stop them. So, in another hands-on maneuver that would have been inconceivable at Summit, Leone came up with a legal tactic. ServiceNow, like most American companies, was registered in Delaware. Under Delaware law, Leone contended, a board could not go forward with an acquisition without soliciting bids from others. Ambushing his colleagues on a ServiceNow board call, he declared that a hasty sale would be illegal.
