The directors of companies, however, being the managers rather of other people”s money than of their own, it cannot well be expected that they should watch over it with the same anxious vigilance (…) .
Negligence and profusion, therefore, must always prevail, more or less, in the management of the affairs of such a company.
Adam Smith – English economist (1723-1790), from “n Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations”, Book V, Chapter 1, Part 3 (1776)