That is false. They were never illegal. Manipulating the stock price was. But buybacks happened for other reasons. They were rarer before because it wasn’t clearly legal for any reason. In part because there are legit reasons to affect a stock price. Like raising capital.
How many sources do you want me to give? I mean, Forbes is second on the search but I could link a bunch of different sources. Prior to 1982, they were deemed to be illegal stock manipulation. So, while you might "technically" be right, it's a vacuous argument. www.forbes.com/sites/aalsin...
The Ugly Truth Behind Stock Buybacks
Every time executives want to authorize a buyback, this decision should go to a proxy vote. In my mind, this rule should have been implemented long before the buyback binge even got started.
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So you agree with me. Technically or not, it was not illegal. It was done. It was made clearly legal in the 80s no matter the reason. Facts matter. The Forbes article is accurate.
The solution is not to make it illegal but to argue for board reform and regulations. At the state level.
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It's Saturday. I could do this all day. But if I actually wanted to do that, I'd be on Facebook.