maximize shareholder wealth?

[cactusgene]

After an IPO, the officers of the company must in fact be interested in maximizing shareholder value, because they want to hold onto their jobs in running a major company which is a big feather in their cap.

You brought up the example of Facebook. That company is an anomaly, because it was a badly overpriced priced IPO issue. The majority of the inside shareholders did not make a killing in the IPO, because their stock was looked up for 4-6 months. And after the stock already shed one half of its value and the look-up expired for the largest block of those restricted shares last week, the stock did not tank as many, if not most in the investment community expected, but rather it gained more than 20% since. So the conclusion has to be that investors believe that the company is working in the best interest of the shareholders, which was helped along with positive news on the revenue side and forecast for the coming year.