I never claimed "only": executives do it to increase their compensation, they don't care about other shareholders unless caring puts more money in the executives' pockets
if you think that executives don't value that, or don't receive any additional compensation from it, feel free to rebut the claim that they do, but the point is that the money went into executive pockets (among others) instead of worker pockets
also, "it's their money" is a morally bankrupt argument that could be used to justify anything money can buy, and ignores that it isn't: it's their shares, the money belongs to the company, who can choose to spend it on value creation vs compensation bumps
if you think that executives don't value that, or don't receive any additional compensation from it, feel free to rebut the claim that they do, but the point is that the money went into executive pockets (among others) instead of worker pockets
also, "it's their money" is a morally bankrupt argument that could be used to justify anything money can buy, and ignores that it isn't: it's their shares, the money belongs to the company, who can choose to spend it on value creation vs compensation bumps