It may underperform in absolute terms, but or shareholders per share is what matters. If a company has lots of projects that can exceed the cost of capital, th

It may underperform in absolute terms, but or shareholders per share is what matters. If a company has lots of projects that can exceed the cost of capital, then they reinvest profits and ingest more capital. When this is no longer the case, the responsible thing to do is return money to shareholders via dividends or (more tax efficiently) via buybacks. Then investors can use the money elsewhere. The issue here is it seems like on the margin CEOs get more risk averse on long term projects as they vest, and can grab the bird in the hand.