NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

By Russ Stoddard

Here’s a B for Boeing. One for Bank of America, too. And one for all the other mega-corporations that are elbowing at the table for billions in government Bailouts (with a capital B) via the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act.

At the heart of my Plan B bailout proposal is an intriguing and relatively new legal structure called a “benefit corporation.”

Legislators fashioning the CARES Act are rightly focusing on safeguards for making loans to public companies that limit the recipient’s ability to fund self-serving stock buybacks, cap dividend payments, and corral managerial compensation and bonuses. I believe requiring these companies to become benefit corporations (also referred to as public benefit corporations) would deliver an even better and longer-lasting ROI to society for our investment.

Photo courtesy of 024-657-834.