Michael Otto Quotes

Not only is self-regulation largely a fantasy, but repeated scandals across multiple industries have proved that companies are fundamentally incapable of self-regulating for the greater good.

Only the corporation that shirks from the light would have anything to fear from government. About the welfare of such corporations we need not be over-sensitive.

The time is coming when all businesses will have to be done with glass pockets.

As for the company, I did all I could from the very outset of this affair to remove Yukos and its employees from danger.

Shareholder meetings are not usually the occasion for utter candor - or for that matter, arch sarcasm - by chief executives.

You have more independent eyes scrutinizing the decision-making and financial statements of companies.

I don't think anybody has indicated that I did anything but do my job at Fannie Mae.

If our great corporations would more scrupulously observe their legal limitations and duties, they would have less cause to complain of the unlawful limitations of their rights or of violent interference with their operations.

All businesses that create wealth, pay their taxes and comply with the law are, by definition, good companies.

They made a mistake. And it was an easy mistake to make. I don't regard setting incentives aggressively as a mistake. I think the mistake was, when the bad news came, they didn't recognize it directly. I don't think that impairs the future of Wells Fargo. They'll be better for it.

Apple exists as a corporate entity with the protections provided by U.S. laws, but it cannot be allowed to pick and choose when to abide by those laws as it sees fit.

You can't just let companies self-regulate, and I've gotta think they get that, too.

Investors don't like being in a world where everything is held up by and waiting for an approval from a very small number of people.

I was, as president and chairman of the board, required by law to verify the veracity of the financial figures, the assets under management, the number of outstanding shares, et cetera.

I would rather be responsible and accountable and help to reward the public shareholders going ahead.

All the good work in the world will not compensate for the damage that a single facet of the business, or a rogue individual, can do. Insider trading, environmental damage, human-rights violations, and opportunistic practices erode trust and result in net negative impact.

Doing good business - being ethical, being transparent, being caring, implementing values in your business - makes a difference, and you make money at the same time.

I have always felt that public, commercial and community organisations should be as open as possible about their affairs. They need to be accountable to their owners, their customers, their members and communities and other interest groups.

In America, we no longer have an institutionalized, organized way of calling business to task - of taking them to account for what they've done - and this is especially true in the cultural realm.

Opacity on extreme levels is not addressed anywhere, including Dodd-Frank.

Executives can no longer hide behind the corporate veil. They need to be accountable for what their companies do, because entities are responsible for socially irresponsible behavior.

Lots of businesses built in the early 1990s were not very transparent, not only by Russians, but also by foreigners.

Where there is flagrant abuse of corporate entities we must and will seek to tackle it.

I think good companies can navigate being public and doing the right things for their customers.

Competition leads both drug companies and private regulators to be trustworthy. If they are not trustworthy, they die.