Originally Posted by
ERJFO
All publically traded companies exist to maximize returns for their owners (shareholders). Its the legal duties of the Officers and Directors.. Alaska, and frankly all airlines of note make their decisions from this perspective. Alaska is no different than any of its competition here.
Nice declaration you made there:
Third, corporate directors are not required to maximize shareholder value. As the U.S. Supreme Court recently stated, "modern corporate law does not require for-profit corporations to pursue profit at the expense of everything else, and many do not do so." ( BURWELL v. HOBBY LOBBY STORES, INC. ) In nearly all legal jurisdictions, disinterested and informed directors have the discretion to act in what they believe to be the interest of the business corporate entity, even if this differs from maximizing profits for present shareholders. Usually maximizing shareholder value is not a legal obligation, but the product of the pressure that activist shareholders, stock-based compensation schemes and financial markets impose on corporate directors.The Shareholder Value Myth , Eur. Fin. Rev. Lynn Stout (April 30, 2013)The Ideology of Shareholder Value Maxim (Watch), Evonomics