But this is completely backwards… It's not the companys equity, its the shareholders equity - a company is owned by it's shareholders not the other way around.

But this is completely backwards… It's not the companys equity, its the shareholders equity - a company is owned by it's shareholders not the other way around. It the same sort of issue thats allowed management teams in large listed companies to just do what they want even when it's not in shareholders interest - compare the compensation packages of many boards with the return they make for shareholders.