Quote from: Holliday on February 13, 2013, 07:21:43 AM

Quote from: organofcorti on February 13, 2013, 07:11:10 AM

Quote from: Holliday on February 13, 2013, 06:58:31 AM

Quote from: cbeast on February 13, 2013, 06:50:59 AM

Why would you need to do anything? You are not an employee when you own stock. They do not compensate you for your time to respond to letters. Stock certificates are made to store in a portfolio in a safe. Businesses may choose to invite participation, but most people do not even look at their stock certificates until they need liquidity. In this case the process of "encheating" stock certificates allows a court to relieve you of your property for an arbitrary remunerance, which in this case was less than the original purchase price in equivalent dollars at the time. The company did not file bankruptcy, they just wanted to go back to private ownership and not share in the profits of their success with the people that invested in them.

So the company does something which is legal for them to do, and you blame the company?

Even if whomever it is that ran the company thought it was a fine and just thing to do, you can certainly blame the company for doing something which is at best amoral, and more likely immoral. Not all business has to be immoral, although I don't see many moral businesses. Maybe the world of business doesn't suit people who are not sociopaths.

It's not so clear as you make it sound. I agree, companies shouldn't do things which we might consider immoral. Yet, if their competitors are doing it, they may have to choose between doing the same or going out of business.

I agree. If you're the "dog eat dog" type has no problem increasing business profitability and if you can ignore the negative effects of your business practices on your investors or customers when you are legally able to, then you'll probably do well. OTOH, if you're not the "dog eat dog" type then your business might not have the killer instinct it needs to survive.

But just because it's surivival of your business doesn't make it moral to climb over the bodies of your former investors first.