February 22, 2013 (Update) -- Proposed $55 million settlement. Final approval hearing scheduled for May 2, 2013.
March 06, 2012 -- An investor in the Empire State Realty Trust filed a lawsuit in State Court alleging that the Trust and Malkin Holdings LLC, supervisor of the company that holds the title to the tower, breached their fiduciary duties in connection with its plan to become a real estate investment trust (REIT) and sell shares on the New York Stock Exchange.

On February 13, 2012 Empire State Realty Trust Inc, the company that controls the iconic Empire State Building, announced that its plans to raise as much as $1 billion in an initial public offering (“IPO”).

However, the plaintiff alleges that the transaction unfairly undervalues the interests of investors and defendants failed to consider reasonable alternatives to the proposed transaction, which were potentially more beneficial to the participants but less likely to be economically beneficial to the defendants. The plaintiff claims that the Malkin family is trying to engineer a one-sided transaction without properly consulting smaller investors or considering reasonable alternatives.