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How the world's richest people became much richer during the pandemic

Jan 16, 2023
Two-thirds of the $42 trillion in new wealth went to the wealthiest 1%, says a new report from Oxfam. The group also says tax policy can change that.
Many of the big companies that made the most money early in the pandemic, like Amazon and Walmart, spent more on shareholders than raising workers' pay, says Molly Kinder of Brookings. Above, the interior of a Walmart.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Banks pump up shareholder payouts as Fed ends pandemic limits

Dividend hikes and stock buybacks are on the way.
Wells Fargo, for instance, is doubling its dividend and plans to buy back $18 billion in stock.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

GE cuts dividend to a penny per share. Why bother keeping it at all?

Oct 30, 2018
The company says it will save nearly $4 billion.
Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images

GE cuts dividend to a penny per share. Why bother keeping it at all?

Oct 30, 2018
The company says it will save nearly $4 billion.
Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images

Big U.S. companies have a lot of cash. Here’s what they’re doing with it

Apr 24, 2018
When you’ve got a little extra money to work with — or a lot — what do you do with it? Maybe you stuff it under the mattress. Maybe you try to invest it and put it to work. Or maybe you spend it on yourself and some important people in your life. That last option […]

GE cuts dividend but shareholders may ultimately benefit

Nov 13, 2017
General Electric announced today that all is maybe not well inside the multinational conglomerate empire. CEO John Flannery said the next couple years will be less profitable than previously thought and that, among other changes, he company will cut its annual dividend in half. That may sound scary if you’re holding some GE stock, or […]

Two big stock buybacks revive a debate

Sep 22, 2016
Shareholders like the practice, but is it good for the economy?
Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

A boring segment of the stock market is on fire

Sep 19, 2016
With bond yields low, investors are flocking to dividend-paying funds.
 

 
Drew Angerer/Getty Images

All buy myself ... the thinking behind stock buybacks

Jun 15, 2016
Companies flush with cash often repurchase their own shares. But there are risks to doing so.
A cleaner sweeping the dealing floor of the New York Stock Exchange, circa 1935. 

 
Keystone/Getty Images

Big Oil cuts back, but not on dividends

Feb 2, 2015
ExxonMobil profits are down 21 percent, so company curtails jobs and investments.