“ Bear in mind that the OP wasn't so much interested in the income from a dividend. His thesis is that the dividend will increase demand for the stock such that there will be a (permanent?) bump up in the stock price.” Bingo, you are close enough to be worthy of a response. The objective is to make brkb a safer less volatile alternative to spy which currently yields 1 percent. Times change, situations change, who cares what Buffett and Charlie thought in 1999? Back to my original question, why do 5 of the Mag 7 pay a dividend, why? How did their stocks react to the news that they were initiating a small quarterly dividend? This is complicated, even here, this is complicated? Btw, I’m out hence I’m on my cell phone, let the buyer beware.