I know the board has some fiduciary duty, but can a company put some guardrails on it when they go public, like saying the environment will always come first, or employees or customers or something?
I know the board has some fiduciary duty, but can a company put some guardrails on it when they go public, like saying the environment will always come first, or employees or customers or something?
Companies can put guardrails on their strategy at nearly any time. Many do, albeit in a less formal/required fashion. You often see companies embrace a culture or idea, such as charity. A big one lately has been to embrace LGBTQ+ communities, although many of these are seen as hollow allegiance for profit.
The big thing is that they have to act on their shareholders’ behalf in good faith. This means they can’t intentionally tank the company. It also means there’s restrictions on how they can invest in the stock market, and are otherwise restricted on matters that may create a conflict of interest.