Shareholders are the real owners of a publicly traded business, but management runs it.
Hudson personally would not face the music at that meeting and the business could hardly proceed for groans and hisses and cries of "Hudson! Hudson! Why is Hudson not here?" and so the ungrateful shareholders to whom Hudson had generously paid dividends out of their own capital cast out Hudson bag and baggage, including therein the agreement with the Newmarket Railway.1941 December 23, Kenneth Brown, “The Newmarket & Chesterford Railway—II”, in Railway Magazine, page 533:
2 more examples
High prices have swelled profits for energy companies, leaving them flush with cash. And their shareholders are certainly feeling that windfall. Exxon Mobil made a record $59 billion profit in 2022, up 157% from the year prior, and the company plans to spend up to $50 billion buying back shares.2023 February 21, Nicole Goodkind, “How oil and gas companies think about their shareholders”, in CNN:
As of March 2022, the Qatar Holding LLC, the investment arm of Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) was the single largest shareholder of QIB, owning 16.7% of the bank, while Nasser Al-Khelaifi, president of PSG, is a board member at QIA.2023 March 20, Issy Ronald, “Manchester United is for sale, who could buy the world-famous club?”, in CNN: