IHG Has Spent $3.9 Billion Buying Back Its Own Stock Since 2022. That's Capital That Didn't Build Hotels.
IHG just crossed $240 million into a $950 million buyback program, part of nearly $4 billion in repurchases over four years. The per-share math looks clean until you ask what an asset-light franchisor is optimizing for when it's spending more on financial engineering than system growth.