Two shareholders of Bruce Co., Harry and Yolan Gilbert, were fighting management for control of the company. They asked for permission to inspect Bruce’s stockholder list so that they could either solicit support for their slate of directors at the upcoming stockholder meeting, attempt to buy additional stock from other stockholders, or both. Bruce’s board refused to allow the Gilberts to see the shareholder list on the grounds that the Gilberts owned another corporation that competed with Bruce. Do the Gilberts have the right to see Bruce’s shareholder list? Argument for the Gilberts: If shareholders of a company have a proper purpose, they are entitled to inspect shareholder lists. Soliciting votes and buying stock are both proper purposes. Argument for Bruce: The Gilberts are simply offering a pretext. They could use this information to compete against the company. No shareholder has the right to cause harm.