Getty Images loses court appeal on warrant dispute
Getty Images Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GETY) said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied the company's petition for rehearing in a warrant-related legal dispute on April 16, 2026.
The Second Circuit had previously affirmed a lower court judgment requiring Getty Images to pay $36.9 million to Alta Partners LLC and $51.0 million to CRCM Institutional Master Fund (BVI) LTD, plus pre-judgment interest of 9% per annum. The damages relate to breach of contract claims involving public warrants owned by the plaintiffs.
The original dispute centered on warrants held by Alta and CRCM. Alta owned 2,066,371 public warrants and CRCM owned 3,010,764 public warrants as of their purported exercise dates. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York initially ruled in favor of the plaintiffs on these claims in October 2023.
The court ruled against Alta's separate claim for 11,593,149 additional public warrants that Alta had purchased in the open market after its initial exercise date but before Getty Images redeemed the warrants.
Getty Images appealed the portion of the judgment favoring the plaintiffs, while Alta cross-appealed regarding its later-acquired warrants. In January 2026, the Second Circuit affirmed the lower court's decision in all respects, with one judge dissenting.
The company's subsequent petition for rehearing has now been denied, according to the company's statement based on court records.
