CFO
Share buybacks are used mainly for improving reported earnings per share (EPS) by reducing the number of shares outstanding. This, critics argue, is simply a way to manipulate EPS and, in the process, benefit executive compensation formulas. Not only is that hardly a return of capital, it’s particularly upsetting to those that subscribe to the stakeholder model of corporate behavior — that is, the corporation must exist for greater purpose than just maximizing profit to benefit executives and shareholders.