The Cost Of Profit: Why Prioritising Shareholders Alone Fails The Modern Corporate Ecosystem

Urvashi Bisani, O.P. Jindal Global University ABSTRACT Corporate governance has long been structured around the principle of shareholder primacy. The doctrine, famously articulated by Milton Friedman in 1970, that a corporation’s sole legitimate purpose is the maximisation of shareholder profit. This paper challenges that orthodoxy. Drawing on stakeholder theory, comparative corporate law, and the evolving regulatory landscape in India, it argues that an exclusive focus on shareholder returns...