Price and effective authority are separate parts of the E-2 analysis.
Assess what the additional payment actually buys
Identify any genuine change in ownership or rights and trace the lawful committed capital. E-2 has no universal fixed minimum, and a higher price cannot by itself cure an unresolved ability to develop and direct the enterprise.
Compare the payment with the rights it buys: percentage ownership, board seats, casting votes, removal powers, and reserved-matter limits. Trace the lawful source and transfer of every paid amount and confirm that capital is irrevocably committed and at risk. E-2 has no universal minimum; substantiality is assessed relative to the cost and needs of the real enterprise, which must be operating and nonmarginal. Treaty nationality and the ability to develop and direct—ordinarily through half ownership or operational control—remain separate requirements. Because E-2 is not a direct green-card route, a premium should not be valued as a permanent-residence purchase. The recurring mistake is paying more for unchanged shares while assuming price cures a control defect.
Hypothetical example: A food-distribution company buyer from Saint-Charles-de-Bourget is offered five additional percentage points, although a co-owner retains unanimous-consent rights over staffing and contracts. She asks counsel to compare the old and new agreements before transferring funds, calculates the enterprise’s actual cost, and records what the premium buys. If operational authority remains blocked, the larger payment alone does not establish direction. This review also prevents her from confusing private purchase price with a fixed government investment threshold.