This article definitely caught my eye. Sears spent $6 billion on buying its own (now worthless) shares since 2005. The article states that this money is the amount that, if it wasn’t spent, would be a game-changer now and it would be enough to keep Sears out of BK. I agree with the author to a degree. It’s true that this was a dumb way to invest, given that the company was not stable for a long time, but on the other hand, this is just a reflection of all the flawed policies and practices that took place at Sears. With the mindset that the leadership had, if this money wasn’t spent this way, it would have been wested on something else. So, in my opinion, the reasons go much deeper, and this waste of Money is just a product of ill practices.
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/10/30/business/sears-share-repurchase/index.html