Changes in Highways magazine

I don't agree that there is a legal obligation to maximize profits for shareholders. A company has a fiduciary obligation to the shareholders, which is rough terms means to "act in the best interest of" a business's shareholders. Acting in their best interest doesn't always mean maximizing their profit and is often subject to the opinions of those involved. An example of this would be the decision by Southwest Airlines to forgo certain and immediate profits by not charging bag fees despite all of their competitors doing so. Another example would be those that believe that the Softbank acquisition of Sprint is a better value for Sprint shareholders than the Dish Network offer despite the Dish offer clearly being for more immediate money.

Shareholder value and shareholder profit are different things in my opinion.