Martin Lipton of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Edward B. Rock of NYU School of Law participated in a forum hosted by the law school and organized by Latham & Watkins, entitled “For Whom is the Corporation Managed?”
In 1997, Business Roundtable stated that “The paramount duty of management and of boards of directors is to the corporation’s stockholders.” This past August, it released a new “Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation” in which it seems to have expanded its view of relevant “stakeholders” to include customers, employees, suppliers, and communities, including a commitment to a healthy environment.
The forum brought together a panel of corporate law experts to answer the questions: Does the law require that the corporation be managed for the benefit of the shareholders? Should it? And if so, what does that even mean, when building a successful corporation requires the joint efforts of employees, investors, customers, suppliers, and communities?