This is the shortsightedness of chasing short term profits for the investors rather than a more sustainable approach of not handing over the reins to a less than trustworthy partner.

I'm genuinely curious for how many companies did this short term bump in profits outweigh the long term loss by irretrievably handing over technology, business strategies, etc.

Edit for the comment below.

> legally obliged to maximise shareholder value

Fiduciary duties are not so explicitly described. A CEO must use care and be diligent when making decisions on behalf of the company and shareholders. Make choices in good faith with true belief that each choice is made with the best interests of the corporation in mind.

Hence the best interests of the corporation must be weighed between short term and long term. A CEO could argue either way that they took the decision in good faith. This is where my curiosity came from, how many of these decisions turned out to be financially successful in hindsight?