Apesar de estar sendo usado num contexto de finanças, creio que também se aplica ao presente contexto. No exemplo abaixo, está claro que os acionistas têm tratamento preferencial:

"Shareholders in a company will often benefit from ‘pre-emption rights’. These give existing shareholders first refusal when a company is issuing new shares. If pre-emption rights exist, new shares in a company cannot be offered to other potential investors without first being offered to the current shareholders."