The concept of shareholder value really got started in the 1970s, pushed by Milton Friedman and others. And value seems to be interpreted as nothing more than

The concept of shareholder value really got started in the 1970s, pushed by Milton Friedman and others. And value seems to be interpreted as nothing more than the stock price. Hence the idea that anything is justified as long as it gooses the stock price, and that a corporation has no social obligations whatsoever.