“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed.
Second, it is violently opposed…”
– Arthur Schopenhauer (attributed)

Any challenge to an established power triggers opposition. It is natural. It is expected. It has always been. Machiavelli noted 500 years ago that the reformer has enemies in all who profit by the old order.

One of my last yellow cab rides before switching to Uber came with a sincere explanation from my cabbie of why no one should ever choose Uber. The city cannot control the fares. Riders face uncertainty. Anyone can join, so you never know who is behind the wheel. All contrasted with the long and reliable track record of great service by the yellow cab industry.

So it has been with the option dividend. As share prices rose after every announcement, and shareholder enthusiasm filled social media, ridicule gave way to a quieter form of opposition. Not loud, but no less violent for being subtle. Anyone who has worked with relationship bankers knows this stage well. Warm tone. Serious concern. And always a reason why the one thing that might help you should not be done, if someone else is proposing it.

A bigger market shift explains why the option dividend is such a threat to the old order. Passive investing has pulled so much capital away from long-term active investors that they now represent only a small share of daily trading. A pro rata option dividend bypasses the capital markets entirely. It lets companies go directly to their own shareholders, the ones who already believe in the story. Those shareholders, not the bank’s trading desk clients, may buy shares to avoid dilution or sell into a public market and keep the spread. The market has changed faster than the banking model has. And maybe we are just crazy enough to believe companies deserve something better, and just determined enough to try to leave the capital markets a little better off than how we found them.

So it is no surprise that vested voices make sure concerns are aired. Control. Uncertainty. Timing. Signals. Hedge funds. Ratings. All made to sound serious, many worth discussing, others simply legacy thinking. Every financing carries trade-offs, including the option dividend. But in practice, companies often find that the conventional alternatives pose greater risks and costs, leaving them stuck waiting for a window that may never open. By contrast, the option dividend has given our clients an attractive path forward in circumstances where conventional paths did not. When investors trust you will not dilute them out, you can build a stronger, more stable shareholder base and a higher valuation. Because capital always flows to where it is treated best.

Ridicule is past. Opposition may be fading. And perhaps stage three is coming, as we have now heard more than one banker quietly whisper:

“𝘎𝘰𝘴𝘩, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢.”