You could have researched that one pretty easily:
https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/04/16/what-are-co...
https://medium.com/bull-market/there-is-no-effective-fiducia...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/harold-meyerson-the-...
https://www.quora.com/Taxes-To-what-extent-are-U-S-companies...
Many shareholders care about stability, There is the whole distinction between "growth" stocks and "income" stocks. Some investors prefer low-growth companies that pay big dividends, other investors prefer just the opposite.
Some investors care about environmental issues, or social issues, or religious issues. e.g. the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund divests from companies that don't meet its ethical objectives, and is often a significant investor.
Simple. "It's in our shareholders' best interest to have a stable society with upwards mobility so more people can buy our products over time."
Or, "It's in our shareholders' best interest for us not to act so amorally as to turn public opinion against us, incurring new onerous regulations as a result."
Shareholder primacy is a theory -- though it's really more of an ideology -- that executives/board members can believe in, but it is by no means required by law[1].
>A business corporation is organized and carried on primarily for the profit of the stockholders. The powers of the directors are to be employed for that end. The discretion of directors is to be exercised in the choice of means to attain that end, and does not extend to a change in the end itself, to the reduction of profits, or to the non-distribution of profits among stockholders in order to devote them to other purposes...
It's not the only interpretation however
>Dodge is often misread or mistaught as setting a legal rule of shareholder wealth maximization. This was not and is not the law. Shareholder wealth maximization is a standard of conduct for officers and directors, not a legal mandate. The business judgment rule [which was also upheld in this decision] protects many decisions that deviate from this standard. This is one reading of Dodge. If this is all the case is about, however, it isn't that interesting.
>A business corporation is organized and carried on primarily for the profit of the stockholders. The powers of the directors are to be employed for that end. The discretion of directors is to be exercised in the choice of means to attain that end, and does not extend to a change in the end itself, to the reduction of profits, or to the non-distribution of profits among stockholders in order to devote them to other purposes...