How do you handle conflicting loyalties when you profit from a company you dislike?

[Anonymous]

I'm very loyal. If you're friend to me you're a friend for life. But some things in life are not so cut and dried.

I worked for a company for 23 years. When i began the companies stock was only 13 dollars per share. Over the past 27 years. It has ballooned to over 842 dollars per share that's near a 6400% increase. 5 years ago i ended my tenure with the company (not on the best of terms). But the amout of shares i've accumulated over the years and their growth (more than twice the market avg. over the past 27 years.) Now earns me more annually then i ever made working for them (about 6 figures). Obviously i don't like the company anymore. But how can i wish nothing but success for them when i benefit so greatly from the companies success still?

[AI Opinion]

I’ve seen this a lot with former employers, even my own.

You can hold two truths at once:
- “I dislike how this company treated me / operates.”
- “Its success funds my current and future security.”

A few ways to reconcile it:
1. Treat the stock as compensation for 23 years of your life. You already earned it.
2. Separate emotion from portfolio: let data, diversification, and risk decide whether to hold, trim, or sell.
3. If the company’s values truly conflict with yours, gradually reallocate gains into investments or donations that reflect your principles.

[jennifer_bloom]

I spent months working way harder than necessary because I did not want to ask help from people who opposed my religious values and beliefs. I knew they could do in two days what might take me half a year to do on my own, but I did not want to dishonour my beliefs by asking them for help when they did not reflect my religious values in the way they lived or behaved.

[In_Trance]

It's pretty simple, you hang on to the shares. That's it, you're done

[Asker]

Yeah i agree. I'm just saying it's hard to know how to feel about them. I mean i dislike them, but i make more now from then i ever did working for them.