Companies to date have often used the excuse that they are only beholden to their shareholders but we need shareholders to think of themselves as stakeholders in the well being of society as well.

Through their own actions customers can hold companies responsible to higher standards of social responsibility. Through collective action they can leverage their dollars to combat the force of those investors who myopically pursue profits at the expense of the rest of society.

What's different here is that we have now technologies that allow these life science companies to bypass classical breeding. That's what makes it both powerful and exciting.

Many of the mainstream agricultural scientists especially at the agricultural schools but at all of our major universities are tied into all sorts of contractual relationships and consulting relationships with the life science companies.

It may be that everything the life science companies are telling us will turn out to be right and there's no problem here whatsoever. That defies logic.

The country that owns green that dominates that industry is going to have the most energy security national security economic security competitive companies healthy population and most of all global respect.

Today's consumers are eager to become loyal fans of companies that respect purposeful capitalism. They are not opposed to companies making a profit indeed they may even be investors in these companies - but at the core they want more empathic enlightened corporations that seek a balance between profit and purpose.

There is a responsibility on all companies to look at the quantum of pay and the relationship between the top and the bottom.

France has a very important relationship with Germany. But that does not mean that we agree about everything or that two of our universities or companies are not going to compete.

Most of my relationships have been like that - with record companies. I've never had a legitimate business relationship with a company. I've always had a personal relationship with someone in the company.