DELAWARE JOURNAL OF CORPORATE LAW Vo.25 Now. as we said the first one was in 96. There were 35 in 97 and over 250 in 98. Electronic commerce is exploding. If you've gone on Ebay whatever, $7 billion over the internet in 1999 in goods traded. $327 billion projected for 2020. Companies are now using the internet for annual eports and proxies. So you've got a technology explosion Second, you've got globalization. The world is shrinking. Country oundaries are being replaced by boundaries of groups of people who are tinguished by their buying preferences. Nationalism is giving way to dependence and economic efficiencies. The EMU, European Monetary Union, is being used to unite the currencies of the European nations. The Euro dollar is expected to compete directly with the yen and the American dollar And in addition to all this, there is a push for a European company statute to allow companies from different member states to merge. The third prong to this is corporate promoters are rejecting traditional corporate forms today in favor of those providing for maximum potential private ordering. Promoters of these new entities, the limited partnership ity company, are writing fiduciary duties out of their agreements and the Delaware Court of Chancery is enforcing those corporate promoters worldwide will seek a new form of entity that will afford maximum flexibility and simplicity. The uniform entity will expand the llC concept and will further meet promoters needs. Private ordering will replace statutory requisites and common law duties. As the late Judge Henry Friendly of New York once observed, "The business of business is business. "It's not fiduciary duties and it's not regulation Unit holders will be willing to concede almost all control in exch for higher rates of return. The bucks. The entity contract will structure all stakeholder relationships and define the duties, if any, of the managers. It may eliminate all meetings and elections. Conflicts will be resolved by interpreting the contract We submit, and this is directed to Delaware, that the jurisdiction that creates, sustains and supports this universal entity will be the corporate governance leader not only in this country but worldwide. It's going to be one economIc, one corporate situation So much for my thoughts and musings. Let's hear what the real experts that you came to hear have to say about the next hundred Steve Goldstone will begin by telling us what he believes business will look for in the twenty-first century MR GOLDSTONE: Thank you, Mike. I'll tell you what I think if you give me the microphone8 DELAWARE JOURNAL OF CORPORATE LAW [Vol. 25 Now, as we said the first one was in '96. There were 35 in '97 and over 250 in '98. Electronic commerce is exploding. If you've gone on Ebay, whatever, $7 billion over the internet in 1999 in goods traded. $327 billion projected for 2020. Companies are now using the internet for annual reports and proxies. So you've got a technology explosion. Second, you've got globalization. The world is shrinking. Country boundaries are being replaced by boundaries of groups of people who are distinguished by their buying preferences. Nationalism is giving way to interdependence and economic efficiencies. The EMU, European Monetary Union, is being used to unite the currencies of the European nations. The Euro dollar is expected to compete directly with the yen and the American dollar. And in addition to all this, there is a push for a European company statute to allow companies from different member states to merge. The third prong to this is corporate promoters are rejecting traditional corporate forms today in favor of those providing for maximum potential private ordering. Promoters of these new entities, the limited partnership and the limited liability company, are writing fiduciary duties out of their agreements and the Delaware Court of Chancery is enforcing those agreements. Among other things, Eileen and I have predicted the following: That corporate promoters worldwide will seek a new form of entity that will afford maximum flexibility and simplicity. The uniform entity will expand the LLC concept and will further meet promoters' needs. Private ordering will replace statutory requisites and common law duties. As the late Judge Henry Friendly of New York once observed, "The business of business is business." It's not fiduciary duties and it's not regulation. Unit holders will be willing to concede almost all control in exchange for higher rates of return. The bucks. The entity contract will structure all stakeholder relationships and define the duties, if any, of the managers. It may eliminate all meetings and elections. Conflicts will be resolved by interpreting the contract. We submit, and this is directed to Delaware, that the jurisdiction that creates, sustains and supports this universal entity will be the corporate governance leader not only in this country but worldwide. It's going to be one economic, one corporate situation. So much for my thoughts and musings. Let's hear what the real experts that you came to hear have to say about the next hundred years. Steve Goldstone will begin by telling us what he believes business will look for in the twenty-first century. MR. GOLDSTONE: Thank you, Mike. I'll tell you what I think if you give me the microphone