3 ms·

Fiduciary duty != maximize shareholder value

• dpark 9y ago
  Then what is fiduciary duty in this context? A fiduciary must act in the best interest of the one they hold a duty to. In the case of shareholders, that is essentially shareholder value. (Arguably it is literally shareholder value, since even non-monetary value is still value.)
  • deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  • Symmetry 9y ago
    A fiduciary is obligated to put their duty to the principal over their own interests, not to put the interests of the principal over all other duties.
    • dpark 9y ago
      That seems like a pedantic and pointless distinction. No one thinks that your financial adviser is obliged to deposit embezzled funds into your accounts in order to meet his fiduciary duties to you. Obviously some obligations take priority. The fiduciary duty of board members to shareholders still seems to be mostly about maximizing shareholder value.
      • Symmetry 9y ago
        But the point is that that while the fiduciary can't try to profit at the expense of the shareholders at all, they can trade off the interests of the shareholders against that of the employees as a group, the environment, their integrity, common morality, etc.