Aldrich v. Aetna Company was a United States Supreme Court case that was decided in 1869. The case involved a dispute between a stockholder and a corporation. The plaintiff, Aldrich, was a stockholder in the Aetna Company, a corporation that had been formed in Connecticut. Aldrich had purchased shares of the company's stock and was seeking to recover damages for the company's failure to pay dividends on the stock. The Supreme Court held that the corporation was liable for the damages, as the company had failed to pay dividends on the stock. The Court found that the company had a duty to pay dividends to its shareholders, and that the company had breached this duty by failing to do so. The Court also held that the company was liable for the damages, as the company had failed to fulfill its obligations to its shareholders. The Court's decision in Aldrich v. Aetna Company established the principle that corporations have a duty to pay dividends to their shareholders. This decision has been cited in numerous cases since then, and has been used to support the notion that corporations have a duty to their shareholders to pay dividends.

In Aldrich v. Aetna Company, the Supreme Court was tasked with deciding whether a contract between two parties could be enforced when it had been made without consideration. The majority opinion held that the contract in question was not enforceable because there had been no consideration given by either party to make it valid. However, Justice Field dissented from this decision and argued that contracts should still be binding even if they were made without any form of consideration as long as both parties intended for them to be legally binding at the time of formation. He further stated that such agreements should only become invalidated if one or both parties later acted fraudulently or misrepresented their intentions regarding the agreement's terms and conditions. Ultimately, Justice Field believed that enforcing these types of contracts would help promote fairness within society since individuals who entered into such agreements in good faith should not have their rights violated due to lack of formalities like considerations being present during its formation process.