Stephen C. Neal is an American attorney who is the chairman[1] and former chief executive officer (CEO) of Cooley LLP, and the chairman of the board of directors of Levi Strauss & Co.[2]
Career
Neal graduated from Harvard University with an AB in 1970 and from Stanford Law School with a JD in 1973.[3]
In 1988, Neal successfully argued Grobow v. Perot, in which the Delaware Supreme Court upheld General Motors' buy-out of Ross Perot under the business judgment rule.[4]
Neal joined Cooley in 1995, having previously been a partner at Kirkland and Ellis in Chicago.[5] He was named chairman and CEO in 2001;[5] he stepped down as CEO in 2007, but continues to hold the chairman position.[6][7]
In 1998, Neal joined the board of trustees of the Monterey Bay Aquarium.[8] He became vice chairman in 2005 and chairman in 2013.[8]
In 2006 Stephen Neal was named by The National Law Journal as one of "The 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America".[7] In September 2009, he was named in The Los Angeles Daily Journal's Top 100 Lawyers in California list.[9]
In 2006, Neal joined the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation as a member of the board, and became its chairman in 2015.[10]
Neal joined the board of directors for Levi Strauss & Co. in 2007,[11] and was named chairman of the board in September 2011.[12]
Since 2021, he has been chair of the Board of Trustees overseeing the Oversight Board of Meta, which oversees the activities of Facebook and Instagram.[13]