One of America’s largest business groups has dropped the “shareholder primacy” creed that has driven US capitalism for decades, urging companies to consider the environment and workers’ wellbeing alongside their pursuit of profits.
The Business Roundtable has close to 200 members, including the chief executives of JPMorgan, Amazon and General Motors, which generate $7tn in annual revenue. A new “statement of purpose” from the BRT on Monday placed shareholders as one of five stakeholders, alongside customers, workers, suppliers and communities.
It is a significant departure from the bedrock belief that businesses serve the owners of their capital — a philosophy championed by Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman and which has driven corporate America for decades.