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"Shareholders have nothing to complain about" I'm not aware of any global trackers that avoid dual class shares like this, and I can't very well sell the Faceb

"Shareholders have nothing to complain about" I'm not aware of any global trackers that avoid dual class shares like this, and I can't very well sell the Facebook bit (I guess I own some somewhere). I'm from the UK where elections are generally First past the post. In theory I can vote for whoever I want, in practice there are 2 parties who have a chance of winning so half the time I end up voting to keep the other one out. Its a democratic election, but I didn't really have a choice. That's 2 counter examples to your reasoning. It's like unfair contract terms. Ideally there would be no such thing, a contract is entered into freely by 2 parties, nothing should be unfair. In practise you need that protection.

kaffeemitsahne 7y ago
>global trackers Not Facebook's problem at all. >elections Not applicable, the choice to not buy a stock is much easier to make than the choice to leave a country because of the voting procedures.
- benj111 7y ago
  "Not Facebook's problem at all" I didn't say it was. What's the easyness threshold where it becomes applicable? I'm sure theres a fair few pension holders that would find it very difficult to avoid Facebook.
i_am_proteus 7y ago
> I can't very well sell the Facebook bit If you don't know any, you can short it.
- benj111 7y ago
  I'm still an owner though? Yes my financial exposure would be zero, but I would still be an owner. I'm also (probably) an owner of facebook, despite having absolutely no say how it is run, as would be traditional as an owner. Philosophical discussion aside, it isn't just Facebook that does this, so there would quite a few different stocks to track, which kind of undermines the 'stick it in a tracker' idea.
  - titanomachy 7y ago
    If you short a company, you are less than an owner. You're an anti-owner. You owe Facebook stock.
    - benj111 7y ago
      If you own facebook shares in a tracker and short Facebook, you are neutral, from a share price exposure point of view. I am still the beneficial owner of the shares within the tracker though, it is still hypothetically possible for me to go to a shareholder meeting and vote with that stock. So although I don't have any financial stake in Facebook, I do have some benefits of ownership.

kaffeemitsahne 7y ago

>global trackers Not Facebook's problem at all. >elections Not applicable, the choice to not buy a stock is much easier to make than the choice to leave a country because of the voting procedures.

benj111 7y ago
"Not Facebook's problem at all" I didn't say it was. What's the easyness threshold where it becomes applicable? I'm sure theres a fair few pension holders that would find it very difficult to avoid Facebook.

i_am_proteus 7y ago

> I can't very well sell the Facebook bit If you don't know any, you can short it.

benj111 7y ago
I'm still an owner though? Yes my financial exposure would be zero, but I would still be an owner. I'm also (probably) an owner of facebook, despite having absolutely no say how it is run, as would be traditional as an owner. Philosophical discussion aside, it isn't just Facebook that does this, so there would quite a few different stocks to track, which kind of undermines the 'stick it in a tracker' idea.
- titanomachy 7y ago
  If you short a company, you are less than an owner. You're an anti-owner. You owe Facebook stock.
  - benj111 7y ago
    If you own facebook shares in a tracker and short Facebook, you are neutral, from a share price exposure point of view. I am still the beneficial owner of the shares within the tracker though, it is still hypothetically possible for me to go to a shareholder meeting and vote with that stock. So although I don't have any financial stake in Facebook, I do have some benefits of ownership.