Change to Corporate Prioritization of Shareholder Value Is Long Overdue: “If Capitalism Is to Survive, It Must Change”
“The short-sighted and destructive pursuit of shareholder value before all other considerations has brought our country and our economy to the brink of ruin.“
Washington, DC – This morning, the Business Roundtable, a collection of some of the country’s top CEOs, released a statement indicating their movement away from the theory that corporations are obligated to prioritize shareholder value over all other considerations.
Morris Pearl, former Managing Director at Blackrock, Inc. and Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires, issued the following statement in response to the Business Roundtable’s shifting stance:
“If capitalism is to survive, it must change. The short-sighted and destructive pursuit of shareholder value before all other considerations has brought our country and our economy to the brink of ruin. With inequality higher than at any other point in nearly a hundred years and countless communities across America falling apart, it is time for corporate America to step up and start acting responsibly. Maximizing short-term shareholder value has made a few people very wealthy, but it’s hurt the vast majority of Americans.
The Business Roundtable’s decision to reconsider the purpose of a corporation is an important step in the right direction, but a statement isn’t good enough. Many of the CEOs who signed onto the statement supported Trump’s trillion dollar corporate tax cut, refuse to pay their employees a living wage, artificially inflate their own stock prices through stock buybacks, and actively pollute our environment. We hope that by signing this statement, they are committing to changing those toxic behaviors. A change in priorities is meaningless without a change in actions.”
For further comments or questions, please contact Sam Quigley at sam@patrioticmillionaires.org.
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About the Patriotic Millionaires
Proud “traitors to their class,” members of the Patriotic Millionaires are high-net worth Americans, business leaders, and investors who are united in their concern about the destabilizing concentration of wealth and power in America. The mission of The Patriotic Millionaires organization is to build a more stable, prosperous, and inclusive nation by promoting public policies based on the “first principles” of equal political representation, a guaranteed living wage for all working citizens, and a fair tax system. You can find out more at https://patrioticmillionaires.org/about/
The Patriotic Millionaires have appeared on hundreds of media outlets here and abroad, including The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the PBS NewsHour, The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and many others. You can find more coverage at https://patrioticmillionaires.org/media
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