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I find is extremely difficult to determine which large companies are self-dealing, since executive and board compensation is not split out in most financial statements. (I can't help but think that this is by design.) So, broadly, I assume all of them are engaged in it unless proven otherwise, which no companies I'm aware of bother to do.


Unless I found some kind of miracle jackpot with the stock reports I've read so far, 100% of them have a section purely devoted to discussing executive/board compensation that is extremely detailed. I know those thick books you get in the mail are daunting, but they do contain a lot of info if you're willing to take the time to read them.


> is not split out in most financial statements.

I hate to belabor the obvious, but that means there are companies that disclose this information, and you can choose (or not) to reward them with your investment.


No, please, belabor.

So, I do do that, by investing in equity (as much as I do) with high dividends, since that is orders of magnitude easier to dig up than to find the few companies that are both interesting as a business and also have sufficiently transparent quarterly statements. Time is valuable, after all.

However, to get back to the original point, the current environment of board and c-suite self-dealing will not change until many, many more people invest and think the way I do. For that to happen, the current bias towards capital gains, which your generation grew up on, will need to be wiped out conclusively.

We shall see if that happens.




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