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Microsoft - keep your filthy hands off Valve, leak shows MSFT would buy Valve
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this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2023
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Yes you are somewhat right. But IMO Valve is what it is because of Gabe Newell, private or public is not the determining factor.
When Gabe Newell at some point leaves Valve, the company will change, no matter if it stays private or goes public.
Large "activist" shareholders (usually fund managers, I believe) often step-in and make demands when the stock isn't performing as they would like. Gabe could be CEO, but shareholders could threaten to dump stock to get the company to act in a certain way. I believe that was behind all the tech layoffs. My conspiracy-biased mind believes these shareholders sometimes push for things that aren't exactly in the company's best interest, but are in the investor's best interest. E.g. if the fund management company is also heavily in commercial real-estate, they may try to get other companies they are invested in to institute return-to-office mandates. My guess is these big players do all kinds of shady shit (use their influence to control media narratives, politicians, etc).
That the shareholders push for things in their interest over that of the company doesn't exactly strike me as conspiratorial thinking. Nearly everyone in an organization will push for what's best for them.
Maintaining a healthy organization is in nearly everyone's best interest, but if you have a small group of decision makers who are not invested in the health of the organization, they'll be willing to make decisions at the expense of the organization.
Just because a company is public, doesn't mean control suddenly is with some Capital company.
Microsoft as an example was absolutely controlled by the founders for decades, before they left the company and handed control over. There is NOTHING different about that, compared to a private company, that can also be traded.
My point was that Valve could only be what it is without being a publicly traded company. Yes, it also requires Gabe or the business owner to direct the company properly, but there are a range of things that publicly traded companies are legally prohibited from doing.
Control still primarily lies with the CEO, but the CEO of a publicly traded company is legally obligated to pursue profits above all else.
No control lies with the owners, a public company can easily have a single or a small group of owners that control the company. Your entire premise is simply false.
Yes you're right, the control lies with the owner. The owner is quite often also the CEO with a private company, but the distinction is worth clarifying.
Strictly speaking, the same is true of publicly traded companies. However with publicly traded companies there is also law that obligates the CEO to act on behalf of the shareholders. The shareholders are the owner, just like with private companies. However a private CEO would just be in breach of their employment contract, a public CEO would be in breach of the law.
Ultimately the reality of publicly traded companies means that "the CEO works for the owner" in all practical purposes is "the CEO pursues profit above all else". While it would technically be possible for all the shareholders to vote that the company do something else, in reality that almost never happens - there are too many ways for shareholders to buy into the company and say "no I want money". Thus, privately owned businesses have the opportunity, under direction from the owner/CEO of behaving differently to publicly traded companies. That doesn't mean they will, because many private business owners want to make money just the same as public shareholders, but the possibility is much higher.
No it isn't, and the things I'm explaining to you are widely understood.
Depends how that happens. Since frankly I think people think "the way Gabe Newell leaves ownership of Valve is by him eventually dying". Since he has never shown any indication to sell. He has offered shares to employees as part of compensation packages, but as I understand even then he has controlling share.
So ofcourse the most simplest way is "Gabe dies and has done no special arrangement"..... shares go to inheritance to his family. So his wife and children. Which might mean nothing changes or everything changes. Maybe he has given private last wishes, maybe not. However they get to decide. They might decide to keep the company as is. Since given they are inheritors of Gabes fortune, not like they would be immediately hurting for cash.
Second option is.... Gabe does actual official arrangements. This isn't unheard of in case of big private family or personal companies or holdings. For example he might put his shares in a foundation or trust with legally binding last wishes unlike non legally binding personal last wishes. Then what happens is whatever the trust charter is. Given example of say some European industrialist foundadtions like Bosch, instructions are left to run the company as commercial business by board of managers to best benefit of the company finances. However the one option the holders don't have is "sell the company", since the shares are hold up in the foundation/trust with instructions "never sell". Company is to be run profitable enterprise as his and best ability of managers and then... the trust gets the profits and uses them for it's purposes. It might be a private family trust, where upon the money is then shared to Gabes descendants, but don't really have say in "we want to cash out, just lump sell our shares". It could also be as in case of Bosch, that it is charitable foundation. After which all of the business profits of the Bosch conglomerate end up financing various charities, foundations, clinics and so on run by the Bosch stifftung.
It will change no doubt, since well Gabe isn't there anymore with his personal personality and well each person has their own personality and influence. However it might not change as much as people think, if say his heirs decide to keep running the company based on same base ethos and principles as Gabe did.
That or everything might change. Two days after he dies, his estate sells Valve to Electronic Arts.
As I've stated before, it's 100% up to the owner, not what type of company it is.