"Hubris of the highest order when company managements think they know much better than shareholders, how to best use the profits the company generates."

I hope you're not seriously suggesting that in a publicly traded company the shareholders know better than the management how the value of the company can be increased, therefore generating shareholder value? Google does have a publicly stated dividend policy, a policy that in the end is decided if not at least tolerated by the shareholders; tolerated presumably because they agree that it will give them the best ROI on their investment.