4 ms·

I am not familiar how this things work, is there some kind of a vote where shareholders debate if this(censorship) is a good idea or not? Or there are only a fe

I am not familiar how this things work, is there some kind of a vote where shareholders debate if this(censorship) is a good idea or not? Or there are only a few people that can decide it.

sleepychu 8y ago
It's implicit, the CEO must deliver value to the shareholders or be replaced. Capitalism doesn't leave a lot of room for moral standing.
- C1sc0cat 8y ago
  Rather difficult with Googles dual class share structure
- robin_reala 8y ago
  That’s totally arguable though. For example: ‘By actively not engaging with the Chinese market we retain our core client base in the US, which would leak away in the event of persistant negative media coverage’. It doesn’t have to be a straight up monetary calculation.
- sveme 8y ago
  Shareholders have and should have moral positions as well. Capitalism can and should be tamed, otherwise there is no difference between Mexican cartels and American corporations.
- tikkabhuna 8y ago
  Large shareholders have corporate values (ethical, etc) that they will push onto companies they own shares in. Blackrock[1] has said social responsibility is important to them. Companies looking for investment need to operate with principles aligned with investors or investors will look for alternatives. [1] - https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/23/blackrocks-push-for-social-responsibility-shows-shift-in-companies.html https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/23/blackrocks-push-for-social-r...
- lallysingh 8y ago
  That's what I get for a quick post on my commute. I meant that Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, isn't a founder of Google. So he doesn't have any leverage over the board for moral stances, and is instead stuck doing their bidding. Of course, I'm also a bit wrong w.r.t. the structure of Alphabet. Where's Alphabet's leadership on this?
qubax 8y ago
Shareholders > Board of Directors > C-Suite ( CEO, CTO, CFO, etc ) Shareholders select the board members. The board members determine the overall plan and direction of the company. The C-Suite ( CEO, CTO, CFO, etc ) execute the plan of and follow the directions of the board. If the board members want to make drastic changes, they can ask the shareholders to vote on it. If the shareholders don't like certain board members or the changes or direction of the company, then can vote to remove board members and put in members they want. https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/040315/what-can-shareholders-vote.asp https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/040315/what-can-sha... Normally, the CEOs do what the board wants and the board have a fiduciary duty to make money for the shareholders. So unless we have a rogue CEO going against the wishes of the board or shareholders, it's highly likely that most of the shareholders will support google's ambitions in china. Do you think shareholders would have voted for Apple to leave china and leave tens of billions in revenue and profits on the table? If anything, shareholders are probably asking google's board why google isn't doing business in china already.
- _nalply 8y ago
  Adding to this marvelous answer: Shareholders > Board of Directors > C-Suite ( CEO, CTO, CFO, etc ) > Management > Employees
  - adtac 8y ago
    ... and of course, at the very end, users :)
- simion314 8y ago
  Are google actions transparent to the Shareholders? As you explained they elect the board they do not vote on do we do this imoral thing or not. I imagine some could consider that the short profits will not be good enough if the downside is the Google image getting even worse and long terms profits will fall.
- kryptiskt 8y ago
  Alphabet has different share classes, and Page, Brin and Schmidt can outvote the rest of the shareholders. That has been motivated by the need to avoid this kind of thing. Also, fiduciary duty doesn't mean that the CEO has a duty to bring in the profits. It means that he shouldn't dip in the till.

I am not familiar how this things work, is there some kind of a vote where shareholders debate if this(censorship) is a good idea or not? Or there are only a few people that can decide it.

sleepychu 8y ago

It's implicit, the CEO must deliver value to the shareholders or be replaced. Capitalism doesn't leave a lot of room for moral standing.

C1sc0cat 8y ago
Rather difficult with Googles dual class share structure
robin_reala 8y ago
That’s totally arguable though. For example: ‘By actively not engaging with the Chinese market we retain our core client base in the US, which would leak away in the event of persistant negative media coverage’. It doesn’t have to be a straight up monetary calculation.
sveme 8y ago
Shareholders have and should have moral positions as well. Capitalism can and should be tamed, otherwise there is no difference between Mexican cartels and American corporations.
tikkabhuna 8y ago
Large shareholders have corporate values (ethical, etc) that they will push onto companies they own shares in. Blackrock[1] has said social responsibility is important to them. Companies looking for investment need to operate with principles aligned with investors or investors will look for alternatives. [1] - https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/23/blackrocks-push-for-social-responsibility-shows-shift-in-companies.html https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/23/blackrocks-push-for-social-r...
lallysingh 8y ago
That's what I get for a quick post on my commute. I meant that Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, isn't a founder of Google. So he doesn't have any leverage over the board for moral stances, and is instead stuck doing their bidding. Of course, I'm also a bit wrong w.r.t. the structure of Alphabet. Where's Alphabet's leadership on this?

qubax 8y ago

Shareholders > Board of Directors > C-Suite ( CEO, CTO, CFO, etc ) Shareholders select the board members. The board members determine the overall plan and direction of the company. The C-Suite ( CEO, CTO, CFO, etc ) execute the plan of and follow the directions of the board. If the board members want to make drastic changes, they can ask the shareholders to vote on it. If the shareholders don't like certain board members or the changes or direction of the company, then can vote to remove board members and put in members they want. https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/040315/what-can-shareholders-vote.asp https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/040315/what-can-sha... Normally, the CEOs do what the board wants and the board have a fiduciary duty to make money for the shareholders. So unless we have a rogue CEO going against the wishes of the board or shareholders, it's highly likely that most of the shareholders will support google's ambitions in china. Do you think shareholders would have voted for Apple to leave china and leave tens of billions in revenue and profits on the table? If anything, shareholders are probably asking google's board why google isn't doing business in china already.

_nalply 8y ago
Adding to this marvelous answer: Shareholders > Board of Directors > C-Suite ( CEO, CTO, CFO, etc ) > Management > Employees
- adtac 8y ago
  ... and of course, at the very end, users :)
simion314 8y ago
Are google actions transparent to the Shareholders? As you explained they elect the board they do not vote on do we do this imoral thing or not. I imagine some could consider that the short profits will not be good enough if the downside is the Google image getting even worse and long terms profits will fall.
kryptiskt 8y ago
Alphabet has different share classes, and Page, Brin and Schmidt can outvote the rest of the shareholders. That has been motivated by the need to avoid this kind of thing. Also, fiduciary duty doesn't mean that the CEO has a duty to bring in the profits. It means that he shouldn't dip in the till.