12-08-2013, 05:30 AM
Whatever portion of the minimum wage issue that involves the small business owner, the aim of much of the pressure to increase the minimum wage is aimed at the large corporations, like our local Walmart, McD and BK, that certainly can afford to pay more if they are just willing to cut into profits and dividends. The amount of money that flows through these big companies is astonishing. I found this a little while ago (the issue was MSFT shareholders want to dump Gates from their BOD for not raising dividends):
So after running their operation and making capital investments, these "titans" of industry still have 60%-70% of their income to push to the rentier class. No wonder the fast food strikers are upset.
quote:
But its share price has been on a plateau for more than a decade, because for a giant corporation that generates a mountain of free cash flow, Microsoft is viewed by many on Wall Street as being too stingy in rewarding shareholders.
Free cash flow is the money from core operations that's left over after it's reinvested to maintain and grow the business.
Titans such as Coca-Cola, Colgate Palmolive and Johnson & Johnson, which throw off a lot of free cash flow on a consistent basis, typically pay their fair share of U.S. taxes and send sometimes as much as 60% or 70% of free cash flow back to shareholders in the form of dividends.
Even with a recent boost in dividends, Microsoft will convert about 40% of free cash into dividends.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/...t/2907235/
So after running their operation and making capital investments, these "titans" of industry still have 60%-70% of their income to push to the rentier class. No wonder the fast food strikers are upset.