Stock buybacks were considered illegal in the US for most of the 20th century due to stock price manipulation concerns.

Time to go back to the days before Rule 10b-18.

Pay the executives millions (if they deserve it or can negotiate it).

Use the profits generated by the company to either reward stockholders with dividends, employees for their efforts, or reinvest in the business.

The experiment has been tried; stock buybacks by CEO's to enhance the value of their stock options at the expense of everything else has been a colossal failure.