Rethinking the ontology of the shareholder model of the corporation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the critical assumptions lying behind the Anglo American model of corporate governance. Design/methodology/approach – Literature review examining the concept of a nexus of contracts underpinning agency theory which, it is argued, act as the platform for neo‐liberal corporate governance focusing on shareholder wealth creation. Findings – The paper highlights the unaddressed critical challenge of why eighteenth century ownership structures are readily adopted in the twenty‐first century. Social implications – A re‐examination of wealth creation and wealth redistribution. Originality/value – The paper is highly original due to the fact that few contributions have been made in the area of rethinking shareholder value.