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I’m not sure how that CEOs response differs from <insertanyindustryhere>. It is a rare case that you see a CEO decide that some other metric is more important t

by S_A_P 5y ago

I’m not sure how that CEOs response differs from <insertanyindustryhere>. It is a rare case that you see a CEO decide that some other metric is more important than making money.

qeternity 5y ago
It doesn't. It's a CEO's fiduciary duty to act in shareholders best interests. EDIT: HN, you're really getting juvenile. Save downvotes for low quality comments, not 100% factual comments that you simply don't like.
- Dylan16807 5y ago
  'best interests' can include priorities other than money.
  - qeternity 5y ago
    No, they can't. This isn't my opinion. This is opinion of the US legal system.
    - b3morales 5y ago
      No, that's not so; you're under a (common) misapprehension: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17529520 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17529520
    - codingdave 5y ago
      While the pendulum goes back and forth on this issue, and in past decades, it did lean towards profits, I'm not aware of any regulatory enforcement of business decisions to maximize profits. Quite the contrary, almost all large businesses make charitable donations, which is the legal basis dating back to a 1956 NJ Supreme Court decision to support the legal rights to put social good above corporate profits. Even if that were not the case, we have recently swung to the other end of the pendulum, with corporate governance groups making an explicit change to work towards more than just profits a couple years ago -- https://fortune.com/longform/business-roundtable-ceos-corporations-purpose/ https://fortune.com/longform/business-roundtable-ceos-corpor...
- sharemywin 5y ago
  The question is about long term interests versus short term. having an excellent qtr when you company falls off a cliff at the end of the year would probably be considered not looking out for share holder's best interest.
  - qeternity 5y ago
    Sure? All of these evil companies have had many, many good quarters (decades worth...which is pretty long term) and now have tens of billions of quarterly profits at their disposal to invest in wherever the next decades of demand will be.

by S_A_P 5y ago

I’m not sure how that CEOs response differs from <insertanyindustryhere>. It is a rare case that you see a CEO decide that some other metric is more important than making money.

qeternity 5y ago

It doesn't. It's a CEO's fiduciary duty to act in shareholders best interests. EDIT: HN, you're really getting juvenile. Save downvotes for low quality comments, not 100% factual comments that you simply don't like.

Dylan16807 5y ago
'best interests' can include priorities other than money.
- qeternity 5y ago
  No, they can't. This isn't my opinion. This is opinion of the US legal system.
  - b3morales 5y ago
    No, that's not so; you're under a (common) misapprehension: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17529520 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17529520
  - codingdave 5y ago
    While the pendulum goes back and forth on this issue, and in past decades, it did lean towards profits, I'm not aware of any regulatory enforcement of business decisions to maximize profits. Quite the contrary, almost all large businesses make charitable donations, which is the legal basis dating back to a 1956 NJ Supreme Court decision to support the legal rights to put social good above corporate profits. Even if that were not the case, we have recently swung to the other end of the pendulum, with corporate governance groups making an explicit change to work towards more than just profits a couple years ago -- https://fortune.com/longform/business-roundtable-ceos-corporations-purpose/ https://fortune.com/longform/business-roundtable-ceos-corpor...
sharemywin 5y ago
The question is about long term interests versus short term. having an excellent qtr when you company falls off a cliff at the end of the year would probably be considered not looking out for share holder's best interest.
- qeternity 5y ago
  Sure? All of these evil companies have had many, many good quarters (decades worth...which is pretty long term) and now have tens of billions of quarterly profits at their disposal to invest in wherever the next decades of demand will be.