I fail to see your argument. The owners make money without receiving dividends. It's reflected in the stock price. When a dividend is issued, the stock price goes down by exactly that amount. It's the exact same thing. If you want that money, sell the stock. My argument is that from a tax perspective, it's more beneficial for the owners for the company to NOT pay dividends. If you ignore taxes, they're identical.<p>Put another way:
Company X's stock is $100/share. They issue a 50 cent dividend. The stock price will go down to $99.50/share upon announcement. The investors/owners still have $100 whether the dividend is issued or not, except the investors have to pay taxes on that 50 cent dividend now instead of having it re-invested.