Companies have always basically been about shareholder value. History seems to disagree, and given that companies predate shareholders, that's not really surpr

Companies have always basically been about shareholder value. History seems to disagree, and given that companies predate shareholders, that's not really surprising. In the early modern era, companies were about a convenient way to group together people engaged in a common business endeavour. [0] In more modern times, shareholders are one responsibility amongst many. The idea that shareholder value is the number one priority always is new, and it's an idea that has done very well over the last three or four decades. However, according to some, that consensus is already crumbling [1]. Perhaps we'll see the idea vanish over the next couple of decades. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporation [1] https://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2311&context=facpub https://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?arti...