Coke Or Pepsi? Most Of Coke’s Shareholders Don’t Care

It is a fair assumption that the CEO of Coca-Cola
KO
would like to beat PepsiCo in every way imaginable. Their management spends their time and effort working on Coca-Cola’s strategy, managing the Coca-Cola team, and building the Coca-Cola brand. Their employees work hard to make Coca-Cola the preferred soda. Their fountain retailers market Coca-Cola, and usually not Pepsi.

The whole of the Coca-Cola team wants Coca-Cola to succeed – very roughly defined as beating Pepsi. It would be a fair assumption that their shareholders also want Coca-Cola to succeed in beating Pepsi – they own the stock, after all. But this assumption is wrong.