Larry Ellison’s brief flirtation with being the richest man on Earth should outrage every American who’s ever wondered why their wages stagnated while CEOs pocket billions. He didn’t invent a miracle technology or raise his workers’ pay. No–his wealth ballooned because Oracle spent years engineering its stock price through buybacks. And it’s not just Ellison.
Corporate America has been running this Reagan-era scam for four decades, hollowing out the middle class while the richest one percent pile up more power.
Top Three Takeaways from the Article:
Stock buybacks are legalized looting – Since Reagan deregulated them in 1982, corporations like Oracle have funneled trillions into buybacks that inflate executive wealth and power, rather than investing in workers or innovation.
Democrats haven’t gone far enough – Biden’s 1% buyback tax and Schumer’s Wall Street ties show that Democrats are tinkering at the margins instead of delivering bold reforms to curb billionaire enrichment and rebuild the middle class.
Raising corporate taxes is key to fixing incentives – Higher corporate tax rates would make buybacks less attractive, push companies to reinvest in employees and R&D, and slow the accumulation of extreme billionaire wealth.
This is not “free-market genius.” It’s legalized looting. And unless Democrats in Washington stop wringing their hands and start rewriting the tax code, we’ll keep getting the same results: soaring billionaire fortunes, stagnant worker pay, and a national economy built on financial smoke and mirrors.
Reagan Gave Us the Scam. Can Democrats End It?
Stock buybacks were illegal until Ronald Reagan’s SEC deregulated them in 1982. Since then, corporate America has spent trillions juicing stock prices instead of innovating, hiring, or paying living wages. Companies like Oracle have used buybacks not only to inflate share value but to consolidate executive control. Larry Ellison now controls 41% of Oracle–nearly double what he owned 15 years ago–without buying a single new share. That’s not capitalism; that’s rigged arithmetic.
And Reagan’s Republican heirs still defend it like gospel.
Democrats talk endlessly about helping workers, but so far their policies have barely scratched the surface. Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act imposed a modest 1% excise tax on buybacks–better than nothing, but a drop in the bucket compared to the problem. Schumer, meanwhile, still entertains Wall Street donors who profit directly from this scam.
If Democrats are serious about building an economy that works for everyone, they need to stop nibbling at the edges.
The GOP Wants More of the Same
Republicans, of course, are worse.
Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts slashed the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, handing corporations an ocean of extra cash. What did they do with it? Surprise: they spent record sums on buybacks, not wage increases. Workers got table scraps while executives and shareholders laughed all the way to the bank.
Now Trump and his allies are openly campaigning to make those cuts permanent. In other words, they want more Ellisons and Musks–and more working Americans left behind.
Higher Taxes, Higher Standards
Raising corporate tax rates isn’t just about fairness–it’s about fixing corporate incentives. Right now, CEOs see buybacks as the cheapest, easiest way to reward themselves and their shareholders. But if Democrats raise the corporate tax rate, the math changes:
Buybacks become less attractive when after-tax profits shrink. Reinvesting in workers, R&D, and infrastructure becomes smarter because those expenses lower taxable income. Investors start demanding real growth, not financial trickery.
The result? More innovation, more good jobs, and fewer billionaires building paper empires.
Time to Pick a Side
Ellison’s $100 billion illusion shows exactly where forty years of Reaganomics has brought us: grotesque concentrations of wealth, stagnant wages, and an economy rigged against workers.
Democrats have a choice.
They can keep offering cosmetic fixes while the GOP doubles down on corporate giveaways. Or they can finally draw a line, raise corporate taxes, and force companies to invest in the people and products that actually make America run.
Workers don’t need another billionaire stock magician.
Democrats need to end the buyback era once and for all.