5 ms·

Last I checked, GOOG is a public company that answers to a board of directors and shareholders. Not a private company with a megalomaniac potentate heading it u

by paul_f 12y ago

Last I checked, GOOG is a public company that answers to a board of directors and shareholders. Not a private company with a megalomaniac potentate heading it up.

blibble 12y ago
Larry and Sergey control 55% of the voting rights: http://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2014/04/02/google-stock-split-in-larry-and-sergey-we-trust/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2014/04/02/google-sto... if the rest of the shareholders don't agree with them they can... do absolutely nothing about it
- x1798DE 12y ago
  They likely can't vote to make specific decisions, but Google is accountable to its shareholders nonetheless and could be held legally liable if they were to do something detrimental to shareholder interests. Not sure how much of a remedy that really is, but it's at least there.
- Scoundreller 12y ago
  I actually don't worry too much about them. It's if/when these massive tech companies go bankrupt and monopolistic control crudely goes to the highest bidder (likely some leveraged buyout organization) that I worry about.
  - michaelfeathers 12y ago
    This. We've already seen a number of cases where technology that was originally royalty-free or open source becomes encumbered after sale of a company. Theoretically, companies that want to "do good" could put IP and data in a separate trust, but that's kind of like throwing away money you might need when times are tough. I remember people saying "but Sun would never.." before Sun was acquired. Oracle has been a decent caretaker, but I doubt that (for instance) that anyone ever imagined that there would ever be a need to fork Hudson. The takeaway for all of us is - Don't trust assurances of companies about their assets unless they have taken steps to protect them independently.
    - Scoundreller 12y ago
      Indeed Detroit is going through this with their museum's assets, which could be liquidated to pay creditors. Suddenly I understood (part of) why owners of art lend things to museums instead of giving them. As a further comment to my post, I guess it's safe to say I trust Brin and Page more than I trust control split apart a million ways to a million middle-class people like myself. If someone made the argument that Google could do something evil and I'd only have to work 30 hours per week for the rest of my life instead of 40, I'd be tempted. Brin and Page have no such incentive.

by paul_f 12y ago

Last I checked, GOOG is a public company that answers to a board of directors and shareholders. Not a private company with a megalomaniac potentate heading it up.

blibble 12y ago

Larry and Sergey control 55% of the voting rights: http://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2014/04/02/google-stock-split-in-larry-and-sergey-we-trust/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2014/04/02/google-sto... if the rest of the shareholders don't agree with them they can... do absolutely nothing about it

x1798DE 12y ago
They likely can't vote to make specific decisions, but Google is accountable to its shareholders nonetheless and could be held legally liable if they were to do something detrimental to shareholder interests. Not sure how much of a remedy that really is, but it's at least there.
Scoundreller 12y ago
I actually don't worry too much about them. It's if/when these massive tech companies go bankrupt and monopolistic control crudely goes to the highest bidder (likely some leveraged buyout organization) that I worry about.
- michaelfeathers 12y ago
  This. We've already seen a number of cases where technology that was originally royalty-free or open source becomes encumbered after sale of a company. Theoretically, companies that want to "do good" could put IP and data in a separate trust, but that's kind of like throwing away money you might need when times are tough. I remember people saying "but Sun would never.." before Sun was acquired. Oracle has been a decent caretaker, but I doubt that (for instance) that anyone ever imagined that there would ever be a need to fork Hudson. The takeaway for all of us is - Don't trust assurances of companies about their assets unless they have taken steps to protect them independently.
  - Scoundreller 12y ago
    Indeed Detroit is going through this with their museum's assets, which could be liquidated to pay creditors. Suddenly I understood (part of) why owners of art lend things to museums instead of giving them. As a further comment to my post, I guess it's safe to say I trust Brin and Page more than I trust control split apart a million ways to a million middle-class people like myself. If someone made the argument that Google could do something evil and I'd only have to work 30 hours per week for the rest of my life instead of 40, I'd be tempted. Brin and Page have no such incentive.