Who protects the stockholders interests?
The stockholders, who are the owners of a corporation, are served by the board of directors of that corporation. The owners of the corporation (the stockholders) have installed the board members to run the corporation and they, the stockholders, expect the board to operate the corporation in a way that is profitable. Profits are returned to the stockholders in the form of dividends, and the stockholders profits are a direct function of the number of shares each one holds. The shareholders pay the board members large sums of money (and include generous compensation packages, including stock options) for their efforts. The stockholders have a reasonable expectation that the board members will do their best to run the corporation smoothly and will make money, so a corporation’s board of directors is tasked with looking out for the interests of the stockholders, who are the owners of the corporation.
