In 2021, as the company was already teetering with revenues in free-fall, and just a year before it defaulted on its bonds, it wasted and incinerated $1 billion on share buybacks, a mindbogglingly idiotic decision that ended up killing the company. Everyone that had anything to do with it should be sued.

In 2014, it wasted and incinerated $2 billion on share buybacks, instead of investing this cash in its ecommerce operation and trying to get out of the brick-and-mortar stores gracefully, while it still could.

Since 2010, the company wasted an incinerated $9.6 billion on share buybacks. Since 2005, it wasted and incinerated $11.6 billion on share buybacks.

These are the cumulative share buybacks – the $11.6 billion that the company incinerated to “return value to shareholders.” Shareholders and Wall Street demand that the company do this, and they got it. There are no victims here (data via YCharts).

After Wasting $11.6 billion on Share Buybacks (“Return Value to Shareholders” LOL), Meme-Stock Pump-n-Dump Bed Bath & Beyond Goes Bankrupt, Will Liquidate | Wolf Street