The #GOPTaxScam: Pink Slips For Thousands Of American Workers And More Than $225 Billion In Corporate Stock Buybacks Going Overwhelmingly To Top Executives And Wealthy Shareholders
In the wake of the GOP Tax Scam, major
corporations have authorized more than $225 billion in buyback schemes – money
that overwhelmingly goes into the pockets of wealthy shareholders and corporate
executives.
In fact, 84%
of stocks are owned by the top ten percent of Americans. It is clear that these
share buybacks overwhelmingly help corporate executives and wealthy
shareholders – not workers.
Corporate executives are padding their
pocketbooks with stock buybacks and laying off
American workers:
- Wells Fargo announced it will close 900 branches despite a $3.4 billion boost from the Republican tax scam. Wells Fargo also announced it will reward corporate executives and wealthy shareholders with a $22 billion share buyback program.
- Kimberly-Clark announced plans to cut up to 5,500 jobs. Kimberly-Clark also announced it will reward corporate executives and wealthy shareholders with $700-$900 million in share buybacks in 2018.
- CSX announced plans to lay off thousands of workers. CSX also announced it will reward corporate executives and wealthy shareholders with a $3.5 billion increase in their share buyback program.
- Harley-Davidson is closing a Kansas City motorcycle assembly plant, resulting in 800 workers losing jobs. Harley Davidson also announced it will reward corporate executives and wealthy shareholders with a $696 million share buyback program.
- Hess Corporation announced they will lay off hundreds of workers. Hess Corporation also announced it will reward corporate executives and wealthy shareholders with a $1 billion share buyback program.
- Cardinal Health announced it will lay off 100 workers. Cardinal Health also announced it will reward corporate executives and wealthy shareholders with a $1 billion share buyback program.
- Pfizer announced it will lay off hundreds of employees. In December, Pfizer announced it will reward corporate executives and wealthy shareholders with a $22 billion share buyback program.
- This year, Walmart will lay off thousands of workers. But days after Republicans introduced their tax plan outline in September, Walmart announced a new $20 billion share buyback plan to reward corporate executives and wealthy shareholders.
Record corporate share buybacks show that
the GOP Tax Scam overwhelmingly benefits corporate executives and wealthy
shareholders over the middle class. According to multiple analyses, corporate share
buybacks are on
track to be the “record
highest” this year.
To date, corporations have spent more than
forty-five times as much on buybacks as on one-time bonuses.
|
Corporation
|
Share Buyback Amount
Announced in 2018 (Millions)
|
Date
|
|
$25,000
|
14-Feb
|
|
|
$22,572
|
23-Jan
|
|
|
$15,000
|
13-Feb
|
|
|
$12,000
|
1-Feb
|
|
|
$10,000
|
15-Feb
|
|
|
$10,000
|
1-Feb
|
|
|
$8,590
|
1-Feb
|
|
|
$8,000
|
27-Feb
|
|
|
$7,500
|
1-Feb
|
|
|
$6,000
|
14-Feb
|
|
|
$6,000
|
31-Jan
|
|
|
$6,000
|
1-Feb
|
|
|
$5,000
|
14-Feb
|
|
|
$5,000
|
26-Jan
|
|
|
$3,500
|
12-Feb
|
|
|
$3,300
|
14-Feb
|
|
|
$3,000
|
28-Feb
|
|
|
$3,000
|
5-Jan
|
|
|
$2,844
|
27-Feb
|
|
|
$2,500
|
23-Jan
|
|
|
$2,000
|
19-Mar
|
|
|
$2,000
|
6-Mar
|
|
|
$2,000
|
6-Feb
|
|
|
$2,000
|
30-Jan
|
|
|
$2,000
|
23-Jan
|
|
|
$1,500
|
20-Feb
|
|
|
$1,500
|
14-Feb
|
|
|
$1,500
|
24-Jan
|
|
|
$1,304
|
22-Feb
|
|
|
$1,250
|
28-Feb
|
|
|
$1,163
|
26-Jan
|
|
|
$1,000
|
20-Mar
|
|
|
$1,000
|
15-Mar
|
|
|
$1,000
|
8-Mar
|
|
|
$1,000
|
7-Mar
|
|
|
$1,000
|
1-Mar
|
|
|
$1,000
|
8-Feb
|
|
|
$1,000
|
7-Feb
|
|
|
$1,000
|
5-Feb
|
|
|
$1,000
|
1-Feb
|
|
|
$1,000
|
25-Jan
|
|
|
Buybacks <$1 Billion
|
$35,624
|
|
|
TOTAL
Corporate Buybacks Authorized in 2018
|
$228.7 Billion
|
*Based on closing price on
the day share buyback was announced.
Vox: Corporate Stock Buybacks Are Booming,
Thanks To The Republican Tax Cuts. “Right after Republicans in Congress passed their
tax bill, lowering tax rates on corporations, companies delivered a very public
thank-you: a series of bonus and investment announcements. It was a major PR
opportunity for both corporate America and the GOP, meant to show that American
businesses were sharing their billions of dollars in tax cut savings with their
workers and the broader economy. But over the next few months, the real
winners from the corporate tax cut became clear — not workers and consumers,
but shareholders. Companies have boosted dividends and stock buybacks.
A stock buyback is when a company buys back its own shares from the broader
marketplace.” [Vox, 3/22/18]
CNBC: Companies Are Putting Tax Savings In
The Pockets Of Shareholders. “Share buybacks in 2018 have averaged $4.8 billion
a day, double the pace for the same period last year, according to market data
firm TrimTabs. That comes following Congress's move to slash the corporate
tax rate from the highest-in-the-world 35 percent to 21 percent.” [CNBC, 3/12/18]
Reuters: Oil majors give in to investors
with share buyback spree. “Since the beginning of year, 11 companies have promised
buybacks, with six alone in the past three weeks including Devon Energy
(DVN.N), Hess Corp (HES.N) and Noble Energy Inc (NBL.N). In all, companies have
committed to buy back about $3.6 billion worth of shares since February.”
[Reuters, 3/14/18]
David Santschi, Director Of Liquidity
Research at TrimTabs: “The feverish buyback activity suggests companies plan to use
a hefty chunk of the money they expect to save on taxes to buy back
stock." [CNBC, 3/12/18]
Ian Winer, Head of Equities at Wedbush
Securities: “‘Stock
buybacks are purely for the shareholder.” … “It is very difficult to argue
buybacks are good for the overall economy or average worker.” [CNN (Money), 3/8/18]
David Stockman, Former Reagan Budget
Director: “So
we need to focus on what's wrong with the exchange rates, what's wrong with
corporate America that constantly uses all of its cash flow for stock buybacks,
M&A deals, LBOs, leveraged recaps. They're not investing in
competitive ability for us to compete in the world market. In fact,
business cap-ex in real net terms today is 30% lower than it was in the year
2000. So that's where the problem is, and this tax cut did nothing for it. It's
a giant mistake that's going to drive up interest rates and cause, you know, huge
windfalls to Wall Street and the 1% and 10% that own the stock. But it's not
going to really address the problem.” [CNN Wolf, 3/8/18]
Howard Silverblatt, Senior Index Analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices: “Combined, buybacks and dividends could put the S&P 500 over $1 trillion for total shareholder return this year.” [Press Release, 3/21/18]
This report is available as a pdf here.
