Pioneer-Exxon Case Asks Delaware Court to Weigh CEO Text Secrecy

Delaware’s top court Wednesday confronted one of the most contentious issues dividing the state’s corporate community as it weighed a bid for texts and emails sent between the chief executives who negotiated a $60 billion merger.

Pioneer Natural Resources Co. squared off against a pension fund demanding information on potential side deals or other conflicts of interest plaguing then-CEO Scott Sheffield ahead of that company’s $60 billion sale to ExxonMobil Corp. in 2024. The chief judge and most senior magistrate on Delaware’s Chancery Court previously refused to order the messages turned over, saying the pension fund hadn’t shown they contain ...