<I believe that has actually been the business model for countless companies: GE, Citigroup, HP, Xerox, Big Lots, Macy's, Sears, QCom and numerous others come to mind.
Of course with a capital allocation system like that in place these companies almost always end up performing like a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest!>

<<Didn't most of these companies peak BEFORE they started distributing their capital through buybacks? Aren't the buybacks a symptom, and not a cause?>>

How about Meta? Here's how the scam works...

"Meta spent $32 billion buying back shares in 2022, $9 billion more than net income! And it's not like the company just invented share repurchases, however.
They spent $50 billion in 2021, again way more than profit and nearly all cash produced from operations.
2021 was spectacular. On $50 billion spent buying shares back, the share count declined all of 3.8%.
It was the first time the share count actually declined despite sizable ongoing repurchases since 2017.
You see, Facebook, I mean Meta's management perfected the (age old) craft of paying themselves a mountain of shares and money.
This is what you do in what is apparently called a Metaverse." ~Chris Bloomstran