A stronger onshore chipmaking industry could be one thing. There are plenty of other reasons individual shareholders might have to park their money in one place as opposed to another which don't simply have to do with maximizing returns. People have ethical considerations, ideological considerations, patriotic considerations...
The purpose of Intel is to manufacture chips. Selling them to make money allows them to reinvest to make more chips. Offering shares on public exchanges raises funds to... you guessed it, make more chips.
If the only true end goal of every corporation is to make money, then eventually we would eventually end up in a financial shell game where money is shuttled around ledgers while nothing of value is created. (Yes, I know.)
> If the only true end goal of every corporation is to make money, then eventually we would eventually end up in a financial shell game where money is shuttled around ledgers while nothing of value is created
No, we end up with Intel manufacturing chips (in order to make money). If Intel becomes unable to make money manufacturing chips, I guarantee they will stop doing it.
'Making money is necessary but not sufficient to explain the motivation.
“I do not expect to join any company which is simply a manufacturer of semiconductors. I would rather try to find some small company which is trying to develop some product or technology which no one has yet done. To stay independent (and small) I might form a new company, after a vacation.”
Noyce and Moore incorporated their new venture on July 18th and made a commitment to continued innovation a fundamental component of their company’s culture.'
I don't see anything in your quote or link that suggests that Intel was anything but a money making venture. To "develop some product or technology which no one has yet done" makes that pretty clear to me. And they didn't stay small either, now ranked 46 on the Fortune 500.
By the way, Gordon Moore was worth an estimated 7 billion when he died earlier this year.
The article is about Intel, so what do you believe the purpose of Intel is if not for profit? What do you think shareholders expect to gain?