Corporations are for the most part, publically

[shraby]

held by stockholders. Wouldn't a corporation intending to back a candidate be required to take a vote of the stockholders to be able to spend corporate money in that manner?

[w4rma]

1. Depends on how the corporate charter is written. (nt)

[Duer 157099]

2. Stockholders almost always confuse themselves with the CEO of the corp

It's an illness, really, and it contributes in large part to the power that the corporations are able to wield.

[ddeclue]

3. Not really..corporations are not democracies...

they elect officers to make decisions for them. The CEO would decide.

:P

[slampoet]

4. Nope, just a vote of the board. Day to day things are done by the board.

Shareholder votes are held much less often and not around issues per se, just to elect a new set of people to the board.

[LeftyFingerPop]

5. No.

For the same reason that the shareholders do not need to give their approval for other business decisions such as the issuance of additional shares to raise capital.

The shareholders place their faith in Management and the board of Directors to make responsible business decisions.

This faith is often misguided.

[gratuitous]

6. New law?

Any political contribution or action by a corporation requires the unanimous consent of all stockholders. Participation must be 100%. I'd go out, buy one share of everything I could, and sit on every ballot. Fuck 'em.

[anonymous171]

7. Corporations are not democracies. They are mini-fascist states

[TxRider]

8. Also depends on corporate laws

And at the least I believe legislation to require them to disclose it is soon to hit congress.

[doc03]

9. What about a foreign owned corporation? You have to be

a US citizen to vote but a foreign billionaire or foreign government owned corporation can select your government. Virtually any large corporation today is multinational and many are completely foreign owned. I work for a company that is 95% owned by one man in Russia and what stocks that are publicly owned are sold on the London Exchange.

[Clovis Sangrail]

10. no

if they don't have to take a vote of shareholders when they decide to spend money pursuing project X (be it r&d, management, marketing, etc)
why would they have to consult shareholders on spending money on politics?

[niyad]

11. "the solid gold cadillac" was just a movie, sorry.

[doc03]

12. Many corporations totally privately owned by one

person and many times not even an American. The company I work for is 95% owned by one Russian billionaire.