Amar Bose Donates Majority of Bose Stock to MIT

Between all this bickering over who’s peniphone is the largest best, it’s always nice to be able to post a positive story, a story which shows that for every abusive company, there’s one that shows the world just how it’s done. This time, it’s Bose. Founder and primary stockholder of Bose, Amar G. Bose, has donated a large number of non-voting shares of the company to MIT, where he spent his university career. Dividends over these shares will be paid each year to MIT, which will use it for research and educational purposes.

I think my appreciation for Bose comes from how Amar Bose approaches audio. He doesn’t believe in objective measurements of audio quality, instead opting for a subjectivist approach; the only thing that matters is the audio quality as perceived by the listener – objective measurement be damned. This has paid off, since the company’s audio equipment is used just about anywhere; even NASA uses Bose equipment.

Amar Bose completed both his bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. degrees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and today, he showed his gratitude by handing over the majority of the stock of Bose to MIT. The shares are of a non-voting nature, and MIT will, hence, not partake in the management of the company. MIT also cannot sell the shares. However, MIT will receive dividend over these shares every year, which they will invest in research and education.

“Amar Bose gives us a great gift today, but he also serves as a superb example for MIT graduates who yearn to cut their own path,” said MIT President Susan Hockfield, “Dr. Bose set the highest teaching standards, for which he is still admired and loved by his faculty colleagues and the many students he taught. His insatiable curiosity propelled remarkable research, both at MIT and within the company he founded. Dr. Bose has always been more concerned about the next two decades than about the next two quarters.”

Dr. Bose doesn’t want the spotlight shone on him about this though, so let me finish by saying that I deeply respect this move. This, dear readers, is what sets decent and good companies apart from the others that are just in it for the money. While I’m personally a fan of Bose’s competitor Harman/Kardon (I find Bose lacking in the design department compared to H/K), they’re both examples of truly posh companies, companies that truly care about their customers.

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