April 19, 2013 (Shareholders Foundation) - An investor who holds shares of Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. (NYSE:TR) filed a lawsuit against certain officers and directors of Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. over alleged breaches of fiduciary duties.
The plaintiff alleges that the CEO runs the company as a secret empire with handpicked board of directors. The plaintiff says that the CEO and his wife own together almost 47% of Tootsie Roll Industries’ common shares and over 80% of its class B shares.

The plaintiff says that the board of directors, which is allegedly under the control of the 93 year old CEO and his wife have cause substantial harm to the company and its shareholders. The plaintiff says after inspecting Tootsie Roll Industries’ books and records it is clear that the board of directors has made no effort to investigate of consider the consequences of management’s failure to shares company information, and communicate, with securities analysts. Furthermore, the plaintiff says that the board minutes produced by Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc fail to demonstrate that the company has a succession plan, which is prudent due to the fact that its CEO is over 90 years old, its President and COO is over 80 years old and the youngest of its directors is 66 years old.
Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. (NYSE:TR) reported that its Total Revenue rose from $532.50 million in 2011 to $549.87 million in 2012 and that its respective Net Income increased from $43.94 million to $52.00 million.

Shares of Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. (NYSE:TR) closed on April 19, 2013, at $31.10 per share.