PROSY - Oakmark Global Fund: Third Quarter 2019
Stakeholder Primacy
In August, the Business Roundtable, a group composed of chief executives of 181 of the U.S.'s largest corporations, released a statement that outlined a "modern standard for corporate responsibility." All 181 CEOs signed the statement, vowing to "commit to lead their companies for the benefit of all stakeholders - customers, employees, suppliers, communities and shareholders." Previous Roundtable statements "endorsed principles of shareholder primacy - that corporations exist principally to serve shareholders," but shareholders were listed last in the updated list. Befitting our current political climate, this new statement was greeted with acclaim in