News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on DigitalOcean Profits Up, More Stock Buybacks, but lays off 11% anyways. Parent comment

Re:DigitalOcean Profits Up, More Stock Buybacks, but lays of... by officialchicken on Thursday February 16, 2023 @07:35PM (#34828966)
This is an oft repeated misrepresentation. In the US, case-law shows there is a fiduciary duty to the corporation itself, not the shareholders. And there are no laws or regulations which require the maximization of profits.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:DigitalOcean Profits Up, More Stock Buybacks, but lays of... by hellojesus on Thursday February 16, 2023 @07:41PM (#34829038)
Yes, I was wrong. This helped to clear it up. https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/8146/are-u-s-co...

That said, voting shareholders could replace management if they deemed them to act differently than they think the next best candidate could. So there is some risk in deciding not to try and maximize the short or long (depending on voters) value of the company.

This helps to explain why the index giants like Vanguard are getting away with pushing their nonsense ESG on companies.

[ Parent | on HN ]