There is also a little bit of policy influence. In a vacuum, a company's profits should only be used by that company to expand / pursue other ventures if that

There is also a little bit of policy influence. In a vacuum, a company's profits should only be used by that company to expand / pursue other ventures if that company is uniquely in a position to make the best use of it. Otherwise, shareholders would prefer that dividends be paid out, and the shareholders can choose where to invest it. But dividends are taxed, and a company utilizing those profits to expand / pursue other ventures is not. Especially in the tech sector, this means you're essentially leaving money on the table by paying dividends. For shareholders to be able to invest better, they'd need to overcome the taxes they'd pay on receiving those dividends as income, which is very difficult. This allows for a lot of waste in spending that would otherwise not exist. Even if all of those failed ventures and meaningless middle managers reduce the return on that investment by 25% or more, it's still saving money over just paying dividends to shareholders and staying lean.