> Maximizing shareholder value is like a death grip that squeezes any public corporation into not making financial gambles on ethical grounds.
Will this meme never die on HN? There is an obvious counter-example: Apple, a public corporation who publicly fought a similar request.
The idea that "maximizing shareholder value" is some sort of inescapable Faustian bargain is just not supported by the facts. People who run corporations might choose to act unethically, in order to maximize a certain outcome, but they are not forced to do so by the mere fact of running a for-profit corporation.
To the extent there is a structural problem in public corporations, it is one of executive incentive, not shareholder obligation.
> Apple, a public corporation who publicly fought a similar request.
The FBI went public with the case, not Apple... and the warrant was signed by a public criminal courts judge not a FISA court. That's a critical difference. There are no examples of successful challenges to NSLs, don't downplay the seriousness of doing so.
"Going public" is not really an option for the stuff we're talking about (as the Yahoo case I mentioned made clear, the whole warrant is predicated on secrecy ). If they do they could face serious financial penalties or face their CEOs going to jail where yes shareholder value will take a hit. The markets are very sensitive to large lawsuit liability and CEO changes.
So I don't see how you could challenge these laws as a public corporation without knowing full well you will damage the share value.
Their obligation to maintaining the stock value is only part of the issue here. You're expecting these businesses to be heroic martyrs when the state has stacked the chips extremely high against them. There's no question who is responsible for this mess.
Yet the US is on track to vote in another president whose primary national security strategy on her website is to expand NSA power and increase domestic and foreign intelligence gathering.
> Yet the US is on track to vote in another president whose primary national security strategy on her website is to expand NSA power and increase domestic and foreign intelligence gathering.
> > Maximizing shareholder value is like a death grip that squeezes any public corporation into not making financial gambles on ethical grounds.
> Will this meme never die on HN? There is an obvious counter-example: Apple, a public corporation who publicly fought a similar request.
This is a poor example to use to disprove the claim; Apple used the FBI encounter to prove to customers that they were tough on security, a component of their value proposition to a segment of the customer base.
Will this meme never die on HN? There is an obvious counter-example: Apple, a public corporation who publicly fought a similar request.
The idea that "maximizing shareholder value" is some sort of inescapable Faustian bargain is just not supported by the facts. People who run corporations might choose to act unethically, in order to maximize a certain outcome, but they are not forced to do so by the mere fact of running a for-profit corporation.
To the extent there is a structural problem in public corporations, it is one of executive incentive, not shareholder obligation.