Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Working Knowledge
Business Research for Business Leaders
  • Browse All Articles
  • Popular Articles
  • Cold Call Podcast
  • Managing the Future of Work Podcast
  • About Us
  • Book
  • Leadership
  • Marketing
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Entrepreneurship
  • All Topics...
  • Topics
    • COVID-19
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Finance
    • Gender
    • Globalization
    • Leadership
    • Management
    • Negotiation
    • Social Enterprise
    • Strategy
  • Sections
    • Book
    • Podcasts
    • HBS Case
    • In Practice
    • Lessons from the Classroom
    • Op-Ed
    • Research & Ideas
    • Research Event
    • Sharpening Your Skills
    • What Do You Think?
    • Working Paper Summaries
  • Browse All
    • Archive

    The Divine Right of Capital: Dethroning the Corporate Aristocracy

     
    Do shareholders have too much power?
    5/6/2002
    Marjorie Kelly doesn't have anything against capitalism or the stock market, per se. It's those danged shareholders that are messing things up. In a short (230 pages) but entertaining tome, Kelly says corporate shareholders are at the root of many of society's ills, including wealth disparity, a crumbling environment, and the deteriorating lot of the worker. The villains? Corporations that are in business to maximize returns to shareholders, who are characterized here as the "corporate aristocracy." Why should shareholders share in wealth they do so little to create? In the "What can we do?" section, Kelly lobbies for structural reform, including expanding the guardianship of corporate governance. Agree or not—and sometimes we thought Kelly herself was winking at us between the lines—this book will get you thinking about the role of corporations and public ownership in the modern world.
    ǁ
    Campus Map
    Harvard Business School Working Knowledge
    Baker Library | Bloomberg Center
    Soldiers Field
    Boston, MA 02163
    Email: Editor-in-Chief
    →Map & Directions
    →More Contact Information
    • Make a Gift
    • Site Map
    • Jobs
    • Harvard University
    • Trademarks
    • Policies
    • Accessibility
    • Digital Accessibility
    Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College