Shareholder Value Creators and Shareholder Value Destroyers in USA: Year 2001

Abstract

In this paper, we quantify shareholder value creation for 276 American companies. We provide the created shareholder value for each and every company for years 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001. The market value of the 276 companies was 8,716 billion dollars in 2001 and 9,729 billion dollars in 2000. We define created shareholder value and provide the ranking of created shareholder value for the 276 companies. In 2001 Microsoft was the leading shareholder value creator and, on the other end of the spectrum, Cisco was the top shareholder value destroyer. We also calculate the cumulative created shareholder value of selected American companies during the four-year period 1998-2001. Wal-Mart Stores was the first company in created shareholder value companies during the four-year period 1998-2001.

We also claim that EVA does not properly measure Wealth Creation. We have compared EVA calculated by Stern Stewart and Co with created shareholder value of 269 companies. The correlation of EVA with created shareholder value was only 17.66%. 60 companies had negative EVA and positive created shareholder value. 64 companies had positive EVA and negative created shareholder value. On average, the difference of shareholder value creation minus EVA was -434% of EVA. The absolute value of the difference of shareholder value creation minus EVA was 8972% of EVA. With this evidence, we conclude that EVA does not properly measure Wealth Creation.

Keywords: Shareholder value creation; Created shareholder value; Equity market value; Shareholder value added; Shareholder return; Required return to equity; EVA

JEL Classification: G12, G31, M21, M40, M46