Final answer:
The minimum number of investors required to vote for a change in management is determined by the total number of shares owned by those investors. Investors 1 and 2 own a total of 38,000 shares. Even if they vote together, they cannot be certain of always getting their way in how the company will be run.
Step-by-step explanation:
The minimum number of investors it would take to vote to change the company's top management is determined by the total number of shares they collectively own. In this case, the investors 1 and 2 own a total of 20,000 + 18,000 = 38,000 shares.
To change the management, they would need to convince other investors whose total number of shares is less than 38,000 to vote with them. Therefore, the minimum number of investors required to vote for a change in management would be the investors 1 and 2 plus any other investor or investors whose total shares owned are less than 38,000.
However, even if investors 1 and 2 vote together, they cannot be certain of always getting their way in how the company will be run. This is because there are other investors who own a significant number of shares and they may vote against the proposed changes.