"buying the stock back and having it appreciate in the company treasury is just like your bank"
---> Assuming it's true, wouldn't the cash itself be better? At some point a company would need to once again sell that stock to get it's money back -- and that would put them right back where they started unless they sell it first without telling "US", the stockholders, at which point the money he'd be withdrawing would be OURS.
By keeping cash he can quickly take advantage of purchases and further build the company on a timetable that's more to his liking, not a finance company's timetable.