[new299]

The only wat this is true is if 17% of people hold stock in Google. Corporations are I believe legally obliged to only have their stock holders interests at heart.

If this survey measures anythings it's just how much goodwill exists toward various organizations.

[ElliotMingee]

Publicly traded American companies are obligated under fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of their shareholders. They are not, however, required to have _only_ their stock holders interests at heart.

[new299]

Hmm I should read up more about the legal obligations. Thanks.

However by that definition it seems to be that if they are operating in the best interests of the shareholders they can't act in anyones elses interests if that causes any expenditure.

Obviously I'm not saying they can't act in the interests of others, but only incidentally and when it coincides with the interests of the shareholders.

[iand]

Quite. If a company wants to maximise shareholder value then it needs to appreciate that its shareholders may value more than money.

[Evbn]

Their stock holders may have customers interests at heart. That is how a good business works.