You should read Google's corporate filings. It's clearly not a fiduciary duty of their executives to maximize shareholder value. They were very clear about that when they went public. There is also no SEC - or any other - regulation stipulating this as the prime directive for corporate officers.
The constantly repeated 'duty to maximize shareholder value' line is nothing more than a myth.
In the case of Google, the triangle of Page / Brin / Schmidt basically control Google outright, regardless of the other shareholders, due to their voting shares. So they absolutely do not have any duty what-so-ever to maximize anything. Buyer beware, is basically what they stapled to the prospectus.
In fact it's no more complicated than this: if some random shareholder is upset, they can stir the pot accordingly, and the waves they'll make is almost always in proportion to the shares they can vote directly or indirectly. There is no singular objective qualification on what would lead to the maximization of shareholder value, it's an opinion that varies from one shareholder to the next as to what they think is "best" for the company.
Simple example: some shareholders might think it'd be better to slash salaries at Costco to boost the bottom line. Others believe part of the reason Costco is so successful is their employee culture.
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You should read Google's corporate filings. It's clearly not a fiduciary duty of their executives to maximize shareholder value. They were very clear about that when they went public. There is also no SEC - or any other - regulation stipulating this as the prime directive for corporate officers.
The constantly repeated 'duty to maximize shareholder value' line is nothing more than a myth.
In the case of Google, the triangle of Page / Brin / Schmidt basically control Google outright, regardless of the other shareholders, due to their voting shares. So they absolutely do not have any duty what-so-ever to maximize anything. Buyer beware, is basically what they stapled to the prospectus.
http://investor.google.com/corporate/2004/ipo-founders-lette...
In fact it's no more complicated than this: if some random shareholder is upset, they can stir the pot accordingly, and the waves they'll make is almost always in proportion to the shares they can vote directly or indirectly. There is no singular objective qualification on what would lead to the maximization of shareholder value, it's an opinion that varies from one shareholder to the next as to what they think is "best" for the company.
Simple example: some shareholders might think it'd be better to slash salaries at Costco to boost the bottom line. Others believe part of the reason Costco is so successful is their employee culture.