Final answer:
To change the Darkroom Windowshade Company's top management, a majority of shares is needed, which means votes representing more than 50,000 shares. Investors 1 and 2 together have 38,000 shares, which is not a majority. Thus, the minimum number of investors required is three, making the answer d) 4, No.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Darkroom Windowshade Company has 100,000 shares of stock outstanding. To change the company's top management, a majority of the shares must vote in favor of the change. Therefore, it would take over 50,000 shares' worth of votes to achieve this.
The share distribution among the investors is as follows: Investor 1 has 20,000 shares, Investor 2 has 18,000 shares, Investor 3 has 15,000 shares, Investor 4 has 10,000 shares, Investor 5 has 7,000 shares, and Investors 6 through 11 have 5,000 shares each. The combined shares of Investors 1 and 2 amount to 38,000 shares. This falls short of the majority needed to ensure they always get their way in how the company is run. Therefore, the minimum number of investors needed to change the company's top management is three, assuming they control enough combined shares to pass the 50,000 threshold. Even if Investors 1 and 2 vote together, they cannot be certain of always getting their way because they do not represent a majority.
To answer the initial question: It takes a minimum of three investors to vote to change the company's top management, and even if Investors 1 and 2 agree to vote together, they cannot be certain of always getting their way in how the company will be run. Therefore, the correct answer is d) 4, No.