About this page
Company money from SEC XBRL data: cash spent buying back the company's own shares, and what chief executives were paid compared with how the stock did.
How to read it
- Buyback
- When a company uses its cash to buy its own shares, so each remaining share owns a bigger piece.
- Pay actually paid
- The SEC's measure that counts stock awards at their changing value, so it rises and falls with the share price.
- Shareholder return
- What $100 invested in the stock grew or shrank to over the period.
A real example
In May 2024 Apple's board approved up to $110 billion of share buybacks, the largest such approval announced by a U.S. company.
Explain it like I'm 13
If a lemonade stand owned by the whole class uses its money to buy back some shares, everyone left owns a bigger slice. CEO pay is how much the stand pays its manager, and it is fair to check whether the stand did well that year.
Data from public SEC filings and congressional reports. Information, not investment advice. Check every number against the filing linked on the page.
Buybacks and Insider Trading
When a company buys back its own shares, it is spending shareholders' money on the stock. Comparing that with what its own insiders did with their money is revealing.
Biggest buybacks in 2025
| Stock | Spent on buybacks | Insiders bought | Insiders sold |
|---|---|---|---|
| AAPL Apple Inc. | $90.7B | $0 | $0 |
| GOOGL Alphabet Inc. | $45.7B | $0 | $0 |
| GOOG Alphabet Inc. | $45.7B | $0 | $0 |
| GOOGM Alphabet Inc. | $45.7B | $0 | $0 |
| GOOGN Alphabet Inc. | $45.7B | $0 | $0 |
| NVDA NVIDIA CORP | $40.1B | $0 | $0 |
| JPM JPMORGAN CHASE & CO | $31.6B | $0 | $0 |
| META Meta Platforms, Inc. | $26.2B | $0 | $0 |
| BAC BANK OF AMERICA CORP /DE/ | $21.4B | $0 | $0 |
| MSFT MICROSOFT CORP | $18.4B | $0 | $0 |
| V VISA INC. | $18.3B | $0 | $0 |
| WFC WELLS FARGO & COMPANY/MN | $17.5B | $0 | $0 |
| C CITIGROUP INC | $13.3B | $0 | $0 |
| CRM Salesforce, Inc. | $12.6B | $0 | $0 |
| GS GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC | $12.4B | $0 | $0 |
| CVX CHEVRON CORP | $12.1B | $0 | $0 |
| MA Mastercard Inc | $11.7B | $0 | $0 |
| ADBE ADOBE INC. | $11.3B | $0 | $0 |
| HCA HCA Healthcare, Inc. | $10.1B | $0 | $0 |
| TMUS T-Mobile US, Inc. | $9.97B | $0 | $0 |
| FBTC Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund | $9.79B | $0 | $0 |
| NFLX NETFLIX INC | $9.13B | $0 | $0 |
| QCOM QUALCOMM INC/DE | $8.79B | $0 | $0 |
| WMT Walmart Inc. | $8.09B | $0 | $0 |
| GE GENERAL ELECTRIC CO | $7.55B | $0 | $0 |
| SCHW SCHWAB CHARLES CORP | $7.35B | $0 | $0 |
| CMCSA COMCAST CORP | $7.16B | $0 | $0 |
| UBER Uber Technologies, Inc | $6.52B | $0 | $0 |
| PG PROCTER & GAMBLE Co | $6.50B | $0 | $0 |
| BKNG Booking Holdings Inc. | $6.44B | $0 | $0 |
| BSTT Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. | $6.13B | $0 | $0 |
| PYPL PayPal Holdings, Inc. | $6.05B | $0 | $0 |
| DELL Dell Technologies Inc. | $6.01B | $0 | $0 |
| GM General Motors Co | $6.01B | $0 | $0 |
| CSCO CISCO SYSTEMS, INC. | $6.00B | $0 | $0 |
| JCI Johnson Controls International plc | $5.99B | $0 | $0 |
| JNJ JOHNSON & JOHNSON | $5.95B | $0 | $0 |
| AIG AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL GROUP, INC. | $5.84B | $0 | $0 |
| AXP AMERICAN EXPRESS CO | $5.81B | $0 | $0 |
| UNH UNITEDHEALTH GROUP INC | $5.54B | $0 | $0 |
| CAT CATERPILLAR INC | $5.19B | $0 | $0 |
| CHTR CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS, INC. /MO/ | $5.13B | $0 | $0 |
| MRK Merck & Co., Inc. | $5.08B | $0 | $0 |
| COP CONOCOPHILLIPS | $5.02B | $0 | $0 |
| SPGI S&P Global Inc. | $5.00B | $0 | $0 |
| AMAT APPLIED MATERIALS INC /DE | $4.89B | $0 | $0 |
| MCK MCKESSON CORP | $4.75B | $0 | $0 |
| ACN Accenture plc | $4.62B | $0 | $0 |
| LIN LINDE PLC | $4.60B | $0 | $0 |
| T AT&T INC. | $4.50B | $0 | $0 |
Examples
Apple. In May 2024 Apple's board authorized up to $110 billion of share repurchases, the largest buyback authorization announced by a U.S. company. A buyback reduces the number of shares, so each remaining share owns a little more of the company.
Why the contrast matters. Executives often sell shares they received as pay, for ordinary reasons. But if a company is spending billions to buy its stock at a price its own executives keep selling at, it is fair to ask who thinks the price is right.
Explain it like I'm 13
Imagine a lemonade stand owned by a whole class. If the stand uses its money to buy back some of the shares from classmates, everyone left owns a bigger piece. That is a buyback. Now imagine the kids who run the stand are quietly selling their own shares at the same time. You would wonder why.
Buyback amounts are cash paid for repurchases of common stock as reported in the company's XBRL data. Insider amounts are open-market purchases and sales on Form 4 in the same calendar year. See also CEO pay versus performance.