US securities law is about what level of transparency is required of publicly-traded companies. It doesn't try to dictate how a corporation is run, only what in

US securities law is about what level of transparency is required of publicly-traded companies. It doesn't try to dictate how a corporation is run, only what information it is required to disclose. Share classes with different voting rights are nothing new. Recent high-profile examples are Google and Facebook, but there are myriad other examples, like Dow Jones prior to the Murdoch takeover, Comcast, and Berkshire Hathaway. As long as it's disclosed, publicly-traded companies in the US can be structured pretty much however they want.