> The shareholders literally own the company […] They do not actually. * https://archive.ph/VCUp4 https://archive.ph/VCUp4 / https://www.ft.com/content/7bd1b2

> The shareholders literally own the company […] They do not actually. * https://archive.ph/VCUp4 https://archive.ph/VCUp4 / https://www.ft.com/content/7bd1b20a-879b-11e5-90de-f44762bf9896 https://www.ft.com/content/7bd1b20a-879b-11e5-90de-f44762bf9... * https://www.pqmagazine.com/the-myth-of-shareholder-ownership/ https://www.pqmagazine.com/the-myth-of-shareholder-ownership... * https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergeorgescu/2021/07/21/the-shareholders-are-not-the-owners-of-a-corporation/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergeorgescu/2021/07/21/the-s... * https://edwardslaw.ca/blog/shareholders-agreements-in-canada-corporate-law/ https://edwardslaw.ca/blog/shareholders-agreements-in-canada... * https://www.ippr.org/articles/who-owns-a-company https://www.ippr.org/articles/who-owns-a-company * https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-institutional-economics/article/abs/who-are-the-owners-of-the-firm-shareholders-employees-or-no-one/587374B0969C7F1A3566F70D97732399 https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-instituti... They have certain claims, but so do customers, suppliers, employees, governments (taxes), bond holders, etc. The claims of shareholders come last, which is why owning stock gets you higher returns (than, e.g., bonds from the company): you're at highest risk of losing money from being last on claims, so you should be rewarded for that higher risk.