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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/19/business/business-roundtable-ceos-corporations.html

Faced with mounting global discontent over climate change, income inequality and working conditions, a coalition of major companies pledged to revise a longstanding principle of corporate governance.

Shareholders aren’t everything, the coalition, the Business Roundtable, said Monday.

The group, a collection of executives representing some of America’s largest companies, issued a statement on Monday that redefines “the purpose of a corporation.” No longer should the primary job of a corporation be to advance the interests of its shareholders, the group said.

Companies must also invest in their employees, deliver value to their customers and deal fairly and ethically with their suppliers, the group said.

The statement was signed by nearly 200 chief executives, including the leaders of Apple, American Airlines, Accenture, AT&T, Bank of America, Boeing and BlackRock.

“While each of our individual companies serves its own corporate purpose, we share a fundamental commitment to all of our stakeholders,” the group said in a statement. “We commit to deliver value to all of them, for the future success of our companies, our communities and our country.”

The Business Roundtable did not provide specifics on how to achieve this shift, offering more of a mission statement than a plan of action. But the companies pledged to compensate employees fairly and provide “important benefits,” as well as training and education. They also promised to “protect the environment by embracing sustainable practices across our businesses” and “foster diversity and inclusion, dignity and respect.”

Since the 1970s, the Business Roundtable, which primarily functions as a lobbying organization, has periodically issued principles of corporate governance that describe how a company should operate. Each version of those principles over the last 20 years has stated that “corporations exist principally to serve their shareholders,” according to Monday’s announcement.

“It has become clear that this language on corporate purpose does not accurately describe the ways in which we and our fellow C.E.O.s endeavor every day to create value for all our stakeholders,” the group said in its statement.

Business Roundtable had been working on the new language for about a year, said Brian Moynihan, chief executive of Bank of America.

“You can provide great returns for your shareholders and great benefits for your employees and run your business in a responsible way,” Mr. Moynihan said in an interview.