It's false. It's just that it's close to what's actually true, so it's pretty easy to pass it as a fact.

Basically, what a company is required to do is serve the BEST INTERESTS of its shareholders. This might not necessarily be the same as maximising shareholder value.

https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/04/16/what-are-co...

Thanks for the clarification, I hadn't seen that before. Although I don't think the distinction changes the point I made.

"When we work on making our devices accessible by the blind, I don't consider the bloody ROI... If you want me to do things only for ROI reasons, you should get out of this stock." - Tim Cook

probably more that he's obligated to do so to keep his job

Tim Cook has enough money that he doesn't need to work anymore. It's not like he's a wage ape pounding code in a cubicle all day.