Oh, yeah ... the problem is that the average stockholder has entered into an agreement where they are at a disadvantage. By buying a relatively small amount of shares (ie. what most regular people do), they have no control over what the company does, they have no voice. So in reality, regular investors should invest with that risk at the forefront. It's obvious that most day traders and small time investors don't really take this risk factor into account ... but the mechanism does exist to mitigate it; doing your due diligence on the board of directors, and choosing not to invest (or selling your shares if the board changes).