Editor’s Note: Trading in Textbooks for Newspapers

I think that a few words of introduction and guidance are in order. I have been a regular contributor and, more importantly, a reader and devotee of Directors & Boards for the past 25 years. I firmly believe that this publication has been, is now, and will continue to be the thought leader in contemporary corporate governance theory and practice for our country’s best directors. I am proud and honored to be engaged as executive editor-at-large for my favorite publication (though I am still a little unsure of what such a lofty title really stands for).

I do have a significant and relevant warning for the readers of this column. At heart, I am an investor advocate. I have always firmly believed that we, as corporate directors, have as our primary obligation the objective of preserving and enhancing shareholder value. The investors entrusted their hard-earned funds with us, and our fundamental responsibility is to wisely steward and enhance the value of what they have invested. Today’s shareholders are not titans of Wall Street, but the millions of hard-working men and women who invest for their well-deserved retirements. If we don’t steward wisely, they will take their capital elsewhere, and the good things that we can accomplish with their funds will never occur.

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About the Author(s)

Charles Elson

Charles Elson is executive editor-at-large of Directors & Boards.


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