It's the part where you ignore the negative feedback from Wall Street and newspapers. This type of change takes time and during the process, outsiders and even insiders will be unlikely to agree with you. Let the results do the talking. Part of good leadership.
The 'just buy more stock' was probably part joke and part personal gain. If you truly believe this is going to be good for the company, then you would believe the stock price will rise in the long term. Why not show your confidence to the insiders and make a buck out of it.
Interestingly, this is something that Rockefeller did often with Standard Oil, as I read in a biography. And also interestingly, it looks like some people (partners) really resented when Rockefeller bought their stock when they lost confidence in his bold choices, which ended up earning him billions is today's currency - and them lose that opportunity.
I guess they might have rationalized that were somehow cheated by Rockefeller; according to the biographer though the course he decided to follow was a very risky bet and nobody could have know for sure how it would have turned out.
The 'just buy more stock' was probably part joke and part personal gain. If you truly believe this is going to be good for the company, then you would believe the stock price will rise in the long term. Why not show your confidence to the insiders and make a buck out of it.