when you invest in the common stock of a company, what do you hope (expect) to gain? Rational investors would answer this question with a single word—wealth. As you will discover in this chapter, a corporation acts in the best interests of its stockholders when decisions are made that increase the value of the firm, which translates into an increase in the value of the company’s stock.

当你投资一家公司的普通股时，你希望(期望)得到什么?理性的投资者会用一个词来回答这个问题——财富。正如你将在本章中发现的那样，当公司做出增加公司价值的决定时，公司的行为是为了股东的最大利益，从而转化为公司股票价值的增加。

The managers of large corporations generally are encouraged to “act in the best interests” of the firms' stockholders through executive compensation packages that reward “appropriate behavior”—that is, actions that increase firms' values. When managers act in their own best interests and stockholders believe that value is not being maximized, these executives often are ousted from their very lucrative positions.Sounds like a good plan, doesn't it?

通过奖励“适当行为”(即增加公司价值的行为)的高管薪酬方案，大公司的管理者通常被鼓励“以股东的最佳利益行事”。当经理们的行为符合他们自己的最大利益，而股东们认为价值没有被最大化时，这些高管往往会被从他们利润丰厚的职位上赶出去。听起来是个好计划，不是吗?