It is not clear to me that large and/or publicly traded corporations must maximize short-term profit. The seminal case of shareholders vs management concerning

It is not clear to me that large and/or publicly traded corporations must maximize short-term profit. The seminal case of shareholders vs management concerning the Ford Motor Company in its early days shows that the objectives and incentives are not beyond debate and thus not intrinsically tied to the size or ownership model of a company. The government has consolidated around the current set of incentives, both directly through its own arms and indirectly through legislation and policy, leading to the result we see today. Breaking these large businesses up may lead to some disruption for awhile, but if the incentives stay the same, the same end result will likely be arrived at again before too long.