You are right, ‘legal definition’ isn’t right, but the legal doctrine derives from the Michigan Supreme Court’s ruling in Dodge vs Ford Motor co. “Dodge v. For

You are right, ‘legal definition’ isn’t right, but the legal doctrine derives from the Michigan Supreme Court’s ruling in Dodge vs Ford Motor co. “Dodge v. Ford Motor Co., 204 Mich 459; 170 NW 668 (1919), is a case in which the Michigan Supreme Court held that Henry Ford had to operate the Ford Motor Company in the interests of its shareholders, rather than in a manner for the benefit of his employees or customers.” This has been often sited as the beginning of ‘shareholder primacy,’ which has become parodied into the particularly stupid (if often accurate) meme of ‘line must go up.’