How public companies can heed BlackRock, Inc.’s call to ‘serve a social purpose’

Society is demanding that companies, both public and private, serve a social purpose. To prosper over time, every company must not only deliver financial performance, but also show how it makes a positive contribution to society.

This BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) letter comes on the heels of the JANA/CalSTRS letter to Apple, insisting that it consider the interests of children who overuse their devices, and last year’s successful shareholder votes on climate change backed by State Street and Vanguard.

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Collectively, this might appear to be a watershed moment, but the entrenched doctrine of shareholder primacy will block real change, according to Head of Legal Policy for B Lab Rick Alexander. (B Lab is...