- link Copy Url - [ Share on twitter ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Buy-Backs: Pitchforks, Then a Rethink https://www.3blmedia.com/markdownify/node/280241?absolute=1&via=3blnews "link to 3 B L Media's Twitter") - [ Share on linkedin ](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://www.3blmedia.com/markdownify/node/280241?absolute=1 "link to 3 B L Media's Linkedin") - [ Share on facebook ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://www.3blmedia.com/markdownify/node/280241?absolute=1 "link to 3 B L Media's Facebook") - [ email Share via email ](mailto:?subject=Buy-Backs: Pitchforks, Then a Rethink&body=ESG News from Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose (CECP) https://www.3blmedia.com/markdownify/node/280241?absolute=1 "Share via email") [Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment](/CSR-News/sustainable-finance-socially-responsible-investment) # Buy-Backs: Pitchforks, Then a Rethink ##### by Brian Tomlinson, Research Director, CECP, CEO Investor Forum Mar 27, 2020 12:00 PM ET Campaign: [CECP Insights Blog](/news/campaign/cecp-insights-blog) ![](/sites/default/files/styles/carousel_2x/public/images/airplane-flying.jpg) [As originally posted on the CECP Insights blog](https://cecp.me/2Ul8k0L) We’re going to want to reach for the pitchforks as we watch baggage-charging, space-squeezing airlines get a chunk of taxpayers’ money as part of the Covid-19 stimulus package, with very few strings [attached](https://www.forbes.com/sites/willhorton1/2020/03/26/airline-bailout-is-first-class-for-executives-and-investors-basic-economy-for-everyone-else-in-coronavirus-stimulus-plan/#36e569524ca2). Particularly so after a decade of airlines shipping cash out the door in share buy-backs at an extraordinary [scale](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-16/u-s-airlines-spent-96-of-free-cash-flow-on-buybacks-chart). As a result, the debate on buy-backs may focus on the airline industry. But hopefully, the very concept of the buy-back will get a closer look (not just in the context of a bailout). In our work, we spend quite a bit of time thinking about long-term value creation; the concern being that incentives and short-term time horizons produce poor long-term outcomes, both for corporates, investors and citizens. Buy-backs aren’t intrinsically short-term or inherently suspect (and they can be an efficient means of recycling capital), but current practice and rationale seem laden with problems. - **Buy-backs should be a tool for balance sheet management.** - **Buy-backs hapen at the wrong time and too much.** - **Buy-backs interact with incentives to create bad outcomes.** - **Buy-backs shouldn’t really be a tool to juice the stock.** - **Buy-backs do represent part of a distributional picture that has inflamed a crisis of confidence in capitalism.** - **Buy-backs should be accompanied by more rigorous disclosure.** Read the full post on the CECP Insights blog: [![LOGO](/sites/default/files/Clients/CECP_rgb_hz_grd_pos_cntrd.png)](/profiles/cecp-chief-executives-corporate-purpose) ### More from Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose (CECP) ###### [New CECP Report Reveals Corporate Foundations Drive Significant Business and Social Returns](/news/new-cecp-report-reveals-corporate-foundations-drive-significant-business-and-social-returns) Apr 2, 2026 10:30 AM ET ###### [Global Business Leaders Explore Responsible Leadership in an Era of Shared Challenges](/news/global-business-leaders-explore-responsible-leadership-era-shared-challenges) Feb 19, 2026 5:15 PM ET ###### [CECP Launches Giving in Numbers™ 2026 Survey: The Industry's Definitive Resource on Corporate Social Investment ](/news/cecp-launches-giving-numberstm-2026-survey-industrys-definitive-resource-corporate-social) Feb 11, 2026 10:55 AM ET ###### [Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose Announces Covista Chairman and CEO Steve Beard, Cencora Inc. 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