Ronald Olson

Ronald L. Olson is a name partner of Munger, Tolles & Olson whose practice involves a combination of litigation and corporate counseling. Mr. Olson counsels individual executives and boards of directors in a wide range of matters, including transactions and corporate governance. He has also been the lead partner in numerous high-profile litigation matters. Mr. Olson is ranked among Chambers USA’s Senior Statesmen in California litigation.

Mr. Olson is a director of Berkshire Hathaway, Graham Holdings Company and Western Asset Trusts. He serves as a director of several nonprofits, including the California Institute of Technology. He was chairman of the American Bar Association’s Litigation Section (1981-1982) and the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary (1991-1992). He was also chairman of the board of trustees of Claremont University Center and Graduate School (1984-1994), founding chairman of the board of trustees of Southern California Public Radio (1999-2004), a trustee of the Mayo Clinic (2004-2016), a trustee of the RAND Corporation (1994-2016 and formerly chair), a director of Edison International (1995-2014), a director of City National Corporation (2001-2014) and a director of the Council on Foreign Relations (2002-2010).

Key Representations:

• Mark Zuckerberg in a variety of matters, including Facebook’s capital structure and the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI).
• Founders (Larry Page and Sergey Brin) of Google in connection with Google IPO and subsequent recapitalization.
• Tokyo Electric Power Company regarding claims from the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
• Imperial Irrigation District regarding Colorado River water rights and restoration of the Salton Sea.
• The Board of Directors of Yahoo! in connection with Microsoft’s proposed takeover, the Google outsourcing contract and the proxy contests of 2008 and 2012.
• General Reinsurance, Berkshire Hathaway’s subsidiary, in being investigated by the United States SEC, United States Department of Justice and New York Attorney General for its involvement with AIG and various finite insurance transactions.
• The Board of Trustees of the Getty Trust in connection with corporate governance and foreign government claims to its antiquities collection.
• The Tornante Company, the private equity firm of Michael Eisner, in its successful proxy fight for control of Topps and subsequent deals.
• Shell Oil Company and industry lead counsel in CARB gas antitrust cases.
• Salomon Inc. in connection with the Nasdaq antitrust litigation (United States Department of Justice and class actions) and the 1991-1992 criminal investigation and governmental claims arising from its conduct of treasury security auctions.
• Alyeska and its oil company owners in the criminal investigation and civil litigation arising from the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Memberships:

Mr. Olson is actively involved in the legal community. His memberships include:

• Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers
• Fellow, American Law Institute
• Fellow, The American Bar Foundation
• Chairman, American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary (1991-1992)
• Vice President, Board of Governors of the State Bar of California (1986-1987)
• Chairman, American Bar Association’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee (1976-1986)
• Chairman, American Bar Association’s Litigation Section (1981-1982)

Education :

• University of Michigan (J.D., 1966) Order of the Barristers; assistant editor, Michigan Law Review, 1965-1966
• Oxford University (Dipl. L. 1967)
• Drake University (B.S., 1963) Beta Gamma Sigma; Phi Eta Sigma; Omicron Delta Kappa