&gt;<i>More often than not, short-term demands made by Wall Street guide business decisions in increasingly poor ways</i><p>Do you have any evidence that this occurs &quot;more often than not&quot;? I look around America, and the world, and see a <i>ton</i> of successful public companies.  Hundreds.  Thousands even.  Some of them have been around for over a <i>century</i>.<p>What you&#x27;re saying is exactly the type of thing someone would say as they try to wrest control from other owners; that everything will fall apart if they&#x27;re not in charge.  Silicon Valley likes to paint this picture of the &quot;genius founder&quot;, but it&#x27;s rarely the case in reality.  If Zuck was abducted by aliens tomorrow, Facebook would live on.