Clean Capitalism

The current system: Stock options → Buybacks → EPS games. Execs issue themselves options, authorize buybacks, pump EPS, cash out.

Dividends are "boring," but buybacks juice comp metrics. Trillions of corporate cash used not for growth or wages, but to feed the stock casino.

The Clean Capitalism Package

1. Ban Open-Market Buybacks

Only allow stock retirement via tender offers (clean, transparent) or mergers. Forces firms to distribute excess cash as dividends.

2. Tie Executive Comp to Real Growth

No more EPS-pumped bonuses. Compensation metrics anchored on capex, R&D, or productivity.

3. Dividends-Only Return of Capital

Either invest in growth (capex, wages, innovation) or pay shareholders directly. Clarity, not gimmicks.

4. Public = 0% Tax, Private = Top Rate

• Public C-corps: 0% federal corporate tax. Qualify = SEC-listed, free float ≥25%, GAAP + PCAOB audit.
• Private C-corps: Taxed at top personal marginal rate. "Corps are people too."

5. IPO Reform

• One-form S-1 Lite for profitable firms
• Shelf registration by default
• Lighter rulebooks, stronger fraud enforcement

Why Public = 0%?

Ends the IPO gridlock. 0% beats any private term sheet. Founders list earlier, retail gets access, insider "late-stage" rent shrinks.

Staying private becomes a conscious luxury good (and priced accordingly).

The Messaging

• "List it or pay like a person."
• "0% tax for sunlight companies; top-bracket tax for closed-door empires."
• "End the buyback casino—grow or pay dividends."

KPIs

• Buybacks/Dividends ratio: target <0.25 (was >1)
• Capex + R&D / Net income ratio: rising trend
• Median wage growth vs EPS growth: convergence
• New U.S. listings/year: 600-800 (back to 1990s vitality)
• Median time to IPO: <6 years from founding