The Dual-Class Share Structure in the Digital Economy Era: Analysis of Shareholders’ Equity

The dual-class share structure has been widely concerned since its inception, and choosing a dual-class share structure has become a new trend in new economy enterprises since the digital economy era. This article is guided by the increasing control of the founding team and whether there is any loss of shareholder equity under the dual-class share structure. Based on the listing experience of the emerging dual-class share structured enterprises in the digital economy era, and based on a systematic review of classic research, this article combines the behavior of the dual-class share structure managers in the digital economy era and the internal and external supervision and constraint mechanisms of the enterprise. Following the logical approach of “traditional dual-class share structure—technology empowerment—dual-class share structure in the digital economy era”. Under this logic, this article explores the agency costs of a dual-class share structure in the new era from the perspectives of traditional managers and shareholder behavior analysis, as well as the changes in agency costs under the new trend of the digital economy, and further analyzes whether shareholder rights have been violated.