but their owners don't share the same liability as the company. The entire reason the concept of companies exist is to create a separate entity that isn't a person.
To put it another way when a company breaks the law should its shareholders (aka owners) go to prison?
> To put it another way when a company breaks the law should its shareholders (aka owners) go to prison?
Forfeiting dividends+penalty that were the product of illegal or negligent corporate practices seems like a reasonable start.
Stated more broadly: As far as investing in unethical and anti-consumer practices is a winner now - society would be better served if the opposite were true.
> To put it another way when a company breaks the law should its shareholders (aka owners) go to prison?
The governing body of a corporation isn't its shareholders.
If you're asking what happens if a company breaks the law, then look up VW Dieselgate. Yes, some executives were prosecuted; yes, some of them went to jail.
I'm not sure what (company) shareholders have to do with this.
To put it another way when a company breaks the law should its shareholders (aka owners) go to prison?