Gaming

I had written a way too long wall of text to simply say this: the CEO works for the board, which represents the monetary interests of the shareholders. Customers will buy from different places where it's cheaper/more suited to their preferences; employees will leave for different jobs at different companies; the CEO is tied to where the money comes from, they'll always be responsible to keep that money flowing.

And I'll spend a bit more time arguing why this is a good thing: let's say I buy some stock in a company. I need that company to make me money, that's the expectation of why I bought the stock. This means they need to pay dividends or grow in value or both. If they spend their money frivolously and don't grow, I'm going to sell my stock and buy some stock that grows - I'm trying to save up for retirement, this is why I'm on the stock market. I don't care how your company does. If you're not helping me make money I'm not giving any to you.

If you want, we can simplify this to a loan: if I sell everything I have and scrounge up $5 million as a loan for you to start a small business and I see you pay 4 million to take your employees on a cruise, am I gonna be happy about what you're doing with the money I gave you? If I see you're spending 2.5 million to increase quality levels but keep the price the same, am I gonna love being a customer? No, motherfucker - you're forgetting where that money came from. It's not yours, it's mine, and I want it back. I don't trust you to make the money back, I don't trust you to spend what I give you responsibly. You're out.