Brief case: Shareholder dominance—Time to ask if the emperor has any clothes

The Corporate governance and short-termism debates are both linked to the role of shareholders in business. George Binney has been working on these issues and believes strongly that ‘creation of wealth for shareholders’ is an inappropriate purpose for many companies. He recognizes that companies must provide shareholders with a competitive return for the risks they take in the same way that a company must provide customers with competitive products. But he rejects the current vogue for making shareholder satisfaction the guiding purpose of business.