Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Careless Language

I was scheduled to give a speech at the RFK Compass event in Cape Cod this week but unfornately I cannot attend. Here's the speech I prepared on the state of corporate governance. Download here or read below.   June 16, 2015 | corporate governance , annual meetings

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Will the Real Owners Please Stand Up?

What is an owner? And, what is an owner of a publicly traded corporation? It’s clear that they are not the same thing. We don’t own a corporation like we own a car or property. Even individual owners of corporate stock don’t really “own” the corporations. We have neither… June 11, 2015 | ownership , responsible ownership , social responsibility , shareholder activism , capitalism

Thursday, June 4, 2015

ICGN speech 2015

I'm in London at ICGN and gave my speech this afternoon. I wasn't able to present this entire paper due to time constraints but I'm offering it here for anyone who wants to read the entire thing. I look forward to your comments.Busy time in London: Spoke yesterday at… June 4, 2015 | accountability

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Where No One Has Gone Before...

Getting worldwide ownership to cooperate on an issue might seem like an effort in herding cats: everyone is going to do their own thing. The thing is, nobody is really doing their own thing. What we have is an uncoordinated body of ownership that blindly follows management.Yes, that’s right:… June 2, 2015 | stewardship , shareholder activism , accountability , ownership

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

When a Child Rules the Parent: The Problem of Corporate Domicile in a Global World

A corporation is the creature of the state. There is no such thing as corporate Common Law. Each of the earliest corporations was literally created by specific statute, a condition which has been diluted over the last four centuries. The original social contract that made creation of corporations attractive… May 26, 2015

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Corporate Governance Fairy Tale

May 20, 2015

Monday, May 18, 2015

The Kabuki Theater of Corporate Governance

 “In theatre traditions of Asia such as the … Japanese Kabuki, the actor is the show. The stories are well known myths and historical epics, so everyone knows the plot. The audience is there to see the performer’s mastery of stylized movements, traditional vocal patterns and their otherworldly appearance in… May 18, 2015 | trustees , CEO power , shareholder rights , fiduciary duty , institutional investors , shareholder activism

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Is proxy voting anything more than a rite of spring?

May 13, 2015

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Myths of Corporate Governance

May 5, 2015 | accountability , shareholder rights , corporate governance , CEO power

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Why Not Me?

As I read in the Crimson "Divest Harvard Plans Weeklong Blockade of Massachusetts Hall," I had to ask myself: why I am not participating? Why not me?So my wife and I drove down to Cambridge (Massachusetts) from Maine to – well, to see what would happen and to see… April 23, 2015 | accountability , Divest , shareholder activism , responsible ownership

Thursday, June 26, 2014

What is the true cost of coal?

June 26, 2014

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

A True Tale About the True Cost of Coal

When was the last time that there was so much buzz about coal. First, there was news that Stanford, one of the major university endowments in the country, was divesting from coal. More recently, the EPA announced new regulations on coal emissions. Both are very big and very interesting… June 4, 2014