A lot of those times the greedy shareholder that directs the company for their own profit IS the company. Many CEOs and VPs get paid partially (some most of their pay) in stock. I was one of those employees, I worked for Intel. Right when stocks were about to break $30 they dipped back below $28... Thats hundreds of thousands of dollars to some of these board member types with thousands of shares. So they announce sweeping layoffs in the US and move a bunch of manufacturing over to Israel (of all fkn places) just to keep stocks high and keep their pockets lined. I don't think they really give two shits about the company, employees, or share holders. I am SO glad to work for a non-traded private business now... Things are better when the company's decisions aren't all about stock price.