5 - Shareholder Homogeneity

Summary

This chapter critically examines the claim that shareholders have a homogeneous interest in wealth maximization. This claim, which is central to several arguments for the exclusive shareholder franchise, is not accurate. Shareholder preferences diverge along a number of dimensions, including those in or out of a control group; those with differential voting power; those involved in vote buying or voting trusts; hedged shareholders; management, employee, and pension fund shareholders; sovereign wealth funds; and corporate social responsibility investors. Even shareholders with shared goals of wealth maximization may have differing timelines, risk tolerances, and ways of defining “wealth.” Thus, actual shareholders have a range of preferences far too great to support many of the arguments that rely on their shared agreement.