Shareholder Primacy and the Moral Obligation of Directors

Authors

Mark J. Loewenstein, University of Colorado Law SchoolFollow
Jay Geyer, The University of Texas School of Law

Document Type

Article

Publication

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

Year

2021

Citation Information

Mark J. Loewenstein and Jay Geyer, Shareholder Primacy and the Moral Obligation of Directors, 26 Fordham J. Corp. & Fin. L. 105 (2021), available at https://scholar.law.colorado.edu/faculty-articles/1322.

Abstract

One of the most written-about and important topics in corporate law is the fiduciary obligations of corporate directors. Increasingly, critics of American capitalism have urged that corporations, and implicitly, corporate directors, act in a more socially responsible fashion and thus eschew the notion that shareholder primacy is the exclusive guide to a director’s fiduciary duty. Under this view, directors must consider the effect of their actions on “stakeholders” other than shareholders and be guided by morality—doing the right thing—when making business judgments.

When directors move away from shareholder primacy, however, decision-making becomes more difficult and problematic. This article analyzes the arguments that underpin a rejection of shareholder primacy, alternatives to shareholder primacy, and the utility of morality as a guide for directors making business judgments.

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