> A company doesn’t “keep” anything. It eventually uses all of its money to either pay dividends (or stock buybacks, their financial equivalent), salaries, business expenses.

Companies certainly do keep cash balances. That cash balance directly adds to the company’s valuation. They’re not obligated to pay it out or spend it. The owners of the company can sell the company, including cash balance, as an asset.

Suggesting that a company’s cash balance somehow doesn’t count because it’s inside a company structure is disingenuous.