Stock in JRJ Corporation sells for $20 per share and features cumulative voting. There are 10,000 shares outstanding. If three directors are up for election, how much does it cost to ensure yourself a seat on the board?

The question here is how many shares of stock it will take to get a seat. The answer is 2,501, so the cost is 2,501 × $20 = $50,020. Why 2,501? Because there is no way the remaining 7,499 votes can be divided among three people to give all of them more than 2,501 votes.

Suppose two people receive 2,502 votes and the first two seats. A third person can receive, at most, 10,000 − 2,502 − 2,502 − 2,501 = 2,495, so the third seat is yours.