those points do not change anything. 1) those who refused to resell were implicitly saying their shares were worth more than the buyback price. Else they would

those points do not change anything. 1) those who refused to resell were implicitly saying their shares were worth more than the buyback price. Else they would have sold. It does not change the fact that they could have received what would have been equal to a dividend if they would have sold a portion of their shares equal to the portion dell wanted to buy back. 2) the performance of Dell in the future is a separate issue from share buybacks. Those who refused to sell their shares thought Dell was worth more than the buyback price -- indicating they expected strong growth in the future. That was a bad investment decision on their part.