Risks Related to Our Relationship with Our Manager
We are dependent on our Manager for all aspects of our business.
We are managed by our Manager pursuant to the terms of our Limited Liability Company Operating Agreement and the Management Agreement between us and our Manager. We do not have any officers or directors of our own and our members will have no voting rights with respect to the officers and directors of our Manager or the supervision of our Manager’s management of our Company. With only limited exceptions, our Manager has the complete discretion to operate our business as it sees fit.
Until such time as we generate sufficient revenues to cover our operating costs, we will be completely dependent on our Manager for operating costs. We are also dependent on our Manager for the development, maintenance and improvement of our Database IP, website, social media accounts and other assets.
Any failure of our Manager to fund our operations pending generation of revenues sufficient to offset our operating costs, to develop, maintain and improve our Database effectively, or to run and grow our business effectively will have a material adverse effect on the timing and amount of distributions available to members.
Our Manager’s status as a public benefit corporation may not result in the benefits that we anticipate.
Our Manager is a public benefit corporation under Delaware law. As a public benefit corporation, our Manager is required to balance the pecuniary interests of its shareholders, the best interests of those materially affected by its conduct, and the specific public benefit or public benefits identified in its certificate of incorporation. The specific public benefit to be promoted by our Manager includes the creation and maintenance of a community-owned genomic and phenotypic database that is designed to solve humankind’s most important medical challenges. We cannot provide any assurance that our Manager will achieve its specific public benefit purpose. On the other hand, our Manager’s status as a public benefit corporation, and corresponding obligation to balance profits against the other factors and interests noted above, may negatively impact the financial return to our members.
As a public benefit corporation, our Manager is required to publicly disclose a report at least biennially on its overall public benefit performance and on its assessment of its success in achieving its specific public benefit purpose. If our Manager is not timely or is unable to provide this report, or if the report is not viewed favorably by parties doing business with us, our Manager or regulators or others reviewing our Manager’s credentials, our reputation may be harmed and our financial condition and results may suffer.
As a public benefit corporation, our Manager’s focus on a specific public benefit purpose and producing a positive effect for society may negatively influence our financial performance.
As a public benefit corporation, our Manager may take actions that it believes will be in the best interests of those stakeholders materially affected by its specific benefit purpose, even if those actions do not maximize the short- or medium-term financial results of us or our Manager. While we intend for this public benefit designation and obligation to provide an overall net benefit to us and our members, it could instead cause our Manager to make decisions and take actions without seeking to maximize the income generated from our Database, and hence available for distribution to our members. Our Manager’s pursuit of longer-term ornon-pecuniary benefits may not materialize within the timeframe it expects or at all, yet may have an immediate negative effect on any amounts available for distribution to our members.
Our Manager may have conflicts of interest with us and has limited duties to us and our members; our Manager may favor its own interests or those of its equityholders to the detriment of us and our members.
The directors and officers of our Manager have a fiduciary duty to manage our Manager in a manner that is beneficial to its owners, subject to the public benefit stated in our Manager’s certificate of incorporation. Conflicts of interest may arise between our Manager, on the one hand, and us and our members, on the other hand. In resolving these conflicts of interest, our Manager may favor its own interests over our interests and the interests of our members. See “Interest of Management and Others in Certain Transactions and Conflicts of Interest—Conflicts of Interest” beginning on page 36 and “Our Limited Liability Company Operating Agreements—Fiduciary Duties” beginning on page 47. In particular, to maximize the value of our Manager’s outstanding equity or to further its public benefit in accordance with our Manager’s fiduciary duties, our Manager may elect unilaterally to modify our Management Agreement to increase the fees payable to our Manager, or take other actions in its management of our business, which may result in reduced or even no amounts being available for distribution to our Members. See “Our Management Agreement—Amendment, Modification, or Waiver” beginning on page 49.
Our Operating Agreement eliminates our Manager’s fiduciary duties to our members.
Our Operating Agreement contains provisions that eliminate, to the fullest extent permitted, the fiduciary duties our Manager owes members under Delaware law. For example, our Operating Agreement permits our Manager to make a number of decisions, in its individual capacity, as opposed to in its capacity as our Manager, or otherwise, free of fiduciary duties to us and our members other than the implied contractual covenant of good faith and fair dealing. This entitles our Manager to consider only the interests and factors that it desires, and it has no duty or obligation to give any consideration to any interest of, or factors affecting, us or our members. See “Our Limited Liability Company Operating Agreements—Fiduciary Duties” beginning on page 47.
Our Manager’s lack of fiduciary duties to us or our members applies to all aspects of our Company and our operations, including our Manager’s right to effect unilateral modifications to our Operating Agreement and Management Agreement. See “Our Limited Liability Company Operating Agreement—Unilateral Modification” beginning on page 46 and “Our Management Agreement—Amendment, Modification, or Waiver” beginning on page 49.
Our Management and Operating Agreements contain provisions, including mandatory arbitration, class action waivers, jury trial waivers, exclusive forums, and fee shifting provisions which could limit our members’ effective ability to obtain a favorable judgement from disputes with us.
All claims or disputes arising under the Operating Agreement, Management Agreement or any related agreement, except for the excluded claims described in this paragraph, must be resolved by final and binding arbitration in San Diego, California before the American Arbitration Association. While corporations may not be able to enforce arbitration provisions in their bylaws against shareholders who did not specifically agree to them, binding arbitration provisions in limited liability company operating agreements have been upheld under Delaware law since members agree to be bound by their terms. None of the claims or disputes subject to mandatory arbitration may be brought as a class action, and the prevailing party in these claims and disputes will be entitled to recover fees and costs (including attorneys’ fees) from the other parties to the arbitration. Excluded claims refers to (a) compulsory or permissive cross-claims between or among the parties to those agreements that arise in a legal action brought by or against anon-party to the agreement, and (b) claims or counterclaims under the federal securities laws or the rules and regulations thereunder. These excluded claims are not subject to mandatory arbitration, the class action waiver, or the fee shifting provisions.
All proceedings against us or our Manager, whether or not excluded claims, including claims or counterclaims under the federal securities laws or the rules and regulations thereunder, must be brought in San Diego, California. By agreeing to the exclusive forum in San Diego, California, investors will not be deemed to have waived our or our Manager’s compliance with any federal securities laws or the rules and regulations thereunder.
The foregoing provisions could limit our members ability to obtain a favorable judgement from disputes with us or our Manager, including because:
| • | | The fee shifting provision (which applies to all claims except excluded claims) could dissuade a member from bringing a claim against us or our Manager, particularly if the claim is not a strong one, due to the need to reimburse us or our Manager for our potentially substantial fees and costs incurred in contesting that claim in the event we or our Manager prevails on that claim. |
| • | | The class action waiver (which applies to all claims except excluded claims) means multiple members cannot share the costs of bringing a claim against us or our Manager, including the costs of discovery or of the arbitration. This may make it more difficult to find an attorney who would represent a member without being paid anon-contingent hourly fee, and may also result in a member having to pay substantial attorneys’ fees, to pursue a claim against us or our Manager, including with respect to the discovery process and the arbitration proceeding, compared to a class action brought against us on behalf of a large number of members who could share those costs. |
| • | | In a dispute subject to mandatory arbitration (which applies to all claims except excluded claims), neither a jury trial, nor an appeal from an award, would be available, and a single arbitrator, rather than a judge and a jury of a member’s peers and potentially an appellate court or courts, would decide all the issues of fact and law in the dispute. |
| • | | The requirement to bring any claim or dispute, whether subject to mandatory arbitration or an excluded claim, in San Diego, California could make bringing any claim against us or our Manager more difficult, time consuming and expensive for a member living in another city, state or country. |
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