The one-sided focus on shareholders’ interests inherent in shareholder value-orientated corporate policies presupposes that there is a functioning system to protect the economic interests of the other stakeholder groups (creditors, employees, customers, suppliers, etc.). This is an important constraint on the maximization of the market value of equity, which as a target variable cannot be equated with a market price on the stock exchange, or with a short-term profit or yield target, and certainly not with a pending bonus payment sum. Conversely, the postulation that the primary focus must be on shareholders’ interests loses its validity as a guiding operational principle if neither individual contractual agreements nor protective statutory rules can safeguard a minimum level of protection for individual stakeholder groups. Given the incompleteness of contracts, it is not sufficient to refer to the possibility of self-protection in contracts—this loophole must be closed by regulations and by corporate governance.