Getty Images Holdings, Inc. NYSE: GETY

Getty Images became a publicly traded company in July 2022 through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company. As part of that transaction, Getty Images issued publicly traded warrants entitling holders to purchase Getty Images common stock (NYSE: GETY) at a fixed exercise price.

Investors have alleged that after the merger, once Getty Images’ stock price rose above the level needed to make the warrants valuable, Getty Images took the position that the warrants could not yet be exercised, claiming that an additional resale registration statement first needed to take effect. By the time Getty Images changed its position, the stock price had fallen back below the warrants’ exercise price, and Getty Images then redeemed the outstanding warrants for a nominal $0.01 per warrant.

Several unrelated groups of warrant holders have filed claims against Getty Images over this conduct in both federal court in the Southern District of New York and New York state court, asserting breach of contract and federal securities law claims. Public court dockets show substantial results across these related cases:

• A federal case in the Southern District of New York resulted in summary judgment of roughly $51 to $53 million.
• A related federal case was affirmed on appeal by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in January 2026, with damages of approximately $88 million.
• A case in New York State Supreme Court, Commercial Division, resulted in a judgment of approximately $92 million in June 2026.
• At least two more lawsuits raising the same claims — one in federal court and one in state court — remain pending.