Quotes about Shareholders

Your “true north” cannot be redirected by external pressures. Once you start trying to satisfy one shareholder, you’ll have to deal with another shareholder with a different point of view. Same with board members and all your other constituencies. If you allow yourself to be pulled off course, you’re going to destroy your enterprise.

You have to stay a step ahead. You have to say, “This is what we stand for. This is a long-term growth company. It will give you great long-term returns, because we perform very well. Are you interested? If you’re not, you may want to put your investment somewhere else.” I’m not saying that you have to dismiss your shareholders or your board. But you must remember who you are and what your com­pany is.

It is possible for a company to pursue multiple bottom lines if it’s closely held by a group of like-minded shareholders--that was the case at my former company, Working Assets. But once a corporation goes public--that is, sells stock to strangers—the die is pretty much cast. Strangers want a stock that will rise when they plunk down their money, and profit is the sure path to doing that. It’s just a matter of time, then, until the profit-maximizing algorithm kicks in.