Since 2020, billionaire fortunes are up while the wealth of the bottom 60% has declined. Oxfam has urged governments to rein in the "billionaire class."
Well, no, dividends are specifically how the profit is divided up among shareholders.
When the money stays in the business it stays in as “retained earnings” and they become an asset of the company i.e. the money they take for themselves. I’ll admit the language is actually less clear here than I thought, because retained earnings are also sometimes referred to as “undistributed profits” and I’m not actually sure if that’s an accurate way to refer to them or if it’s just a jurisdictional tax thing. And also because those undistributed profits can then still be reinvested they don’t technically count as a business expense because those retained earnings were from a previous fiscal cycle and- it’s all a mess lol
I don’t see how you can consider leaving it in the company being “taking it for themselves”. You can’t do anything with that money other than pay for business investment or expenses. At least until it’s turned into dividends.
I reject the idea that the company is some legal person separate from the people that run it. They are the company, they can choose to use that money however they want. If they want to pay out huge bonuses from the profits, they can. It’s their choice.
Just because they might choose to use that money to fuel growth or buy back stock or something doesn’t mean it isn’t theirs.
That’s my point.
You said
But the money they take for themselves are called dividends, and is a subset of profit. Profit can stay in the business too.
Well, no, dividends are specifically how the profit is divided up among shareholders.
When the money stays in the business it stays in as “retained earnings” and they become an asset of the company i.e. the money they take for themselves. I’ll admit the language is actually less clear here than I thought, because retained earnings are also sometimes referred to as “undistributed profits” and I’m not actually sure if that’s an accurate way to refer to them or if it’s just a jurisdictional tax thing. And also because those undistributed profits can then still be reinvested they don’t technically count as a business expense because those retained earnings were from a previous fiscal cycle and- it’s all a mess lol
I don’t see how you can consider leaving it in the company being “taking it for themselves”. You can’t do anything with that money other than pay for business investment or expenses. At least until it’s turned into dividends.
I reject the idea that the company is some legal person separate from the people that run it. They are the company, they can choose to use that money however they want. If they want to pay out huge bonuses from the profits, they can. It’s their choice.
Just because they might choose to use that money to fuel growth or buy back stock or something doesn’t mean it isn’t theirs.