Today’s economy is largely shaped by shareholder primacy, the equation “money = power,” and financial markets that reward unlimited returns. In 1970, the economist Milton Friedman promoted increasing the power of shareholders when he advocated shareholder capitalism:

“The only social responsibility of business is to increase shareholder value.”

—Milton Friedman, 1970

Profit above all else. This paradigm took hold across generations, shaping what we consider “normal.” Only the boldest entrepreneurs and investors seem able to escape it. The idea of steering for short-term shareholder value is the opposite of what the world needs now.

The field has been slow to see this. Or, more precisely, there has been too little awareness that it matters at all. But if we ever want companies to genuinely centre sustainability, biodiversity, or other societal challenges, we need to look at how ownership itself is designed. Because ownership matters.

“More than the design of specific products or services, what matters most is the deep design of the organisation itself.”

—Kate Raworth

Building on the Doughnut model, but from a micro-perspective and on regenerative design principles, we see a third dimension that needs to be brought into relation: ownership.

We believe that companies which combine a restorative or regenerative business model with a steward-ownership structure (no shareholder primacy, perpetual independence, involved steward-owners)stand a better chance of staying within the Doughnut. Not a guarantee, but a structural head start: a real balance between value proposition and ownership.