Dialogue 1
A: How often are stockholders meetings held?
B: Stockholders meetings are held biannually. Usually the meetings are scheduled for spring and fall. In between the meetings, each stockholder receives biannual reports. Financial statements are made once a year.
A: What percentage of the stockholders actually attend the meetings? I'm guessing not a large percentage. . .
B: You're right, it's a low percentage. Also, in order to attend meetings, you have to hold a certain amount of shares. It's quite a large number, so most of the stockholders are excluded from proceedings.
A: So, how much say do the stockholders really have?
B: Unless, they're united, very little. . .
Dialogue 2
A: At their last meeting, the stockholders voted unanimously to block the merger of our company with Blycore. All the executive committee was in favor of the merger. . . I don't understand how the stockholders could have so much power to throw a wrench in the plans. . .
B: If they all unite on a certain issue, it's the stockholders who have the final say. You'd think it might be our CEO or the workers, but in fact, the stockholders control the money so they have the most power.
A: Is it really that simple? It doesn't seem very efficient to run things that way.
B: It might not be the most efficient, but if you think about it, it makes pretty good sense. The stockholders are our investors. They own the capital in our company, so they should have say about what is done with the company.
A: I guess I'd buy that. . . .