A federal magistrate judge disclosed that she owned Microsoft Corp. stock while overseeing newspapers and authors’ sprawling copyright lawsuits against the software company and OpenAI Inc., but said she doesn’t need to recuse herself because she divested her interest.
“My ownership of this stock has not affected or impacted any decision in this case,” Magistrate Judge Ona T. Wang said in a Friday filing.
Wang acknowledged the stock ownership would ordinarily require recusal, but explained why she was not recusing from the case.
“I have concluded that my interest in Microsoft Corporation could not be substantially affected by the …