The theory and practice of how executives allocate the capital generated by their businesses — arguing that capital allocation skill is the most underappreciated determinant of long-run shareholder value.
Capital allocation decisions: every dollar of earnings must be deployed somehow — reinvested in the business, returned to shareholders (dividends, buybacks), or used for acquisitions. The quality of these decisions, compounded over years, determines whether a company creates or destroys value. The 'outsider CEOs' (Thorndike): a set of capital-allocating CEOs (Buffett, Henry Singleton at Teledyne, Tom Murphy at Capital Cities) dramatically outperformed peers through disciplined repurchase and reinvestment. The most important skill a CEO can have.
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