Buffett's $200B Coke Dividend Machine Keeps Rolling

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has held approximately 400 million shares of Coca-Cola (KO) for decades, with no significant changes to this position in years. The stake was originally built in the late 1980s and remains untouched to this day.

The dividend check from this dormant-looking position is quietly compounding into one of the most productive streams in the S&P 500. Coca-Cola's quarterly rate has stepped up, extending a streak that Coca-Cola itself calls the 63rd consecutive year of increases as of 2025.

Coca-Cola's quarterly rate was declared at $0.53 per share, with the next payment scheduled for October 1, 2026 to holders of record as of the September 15, 2026 ex-date. The resulting annual income from this position runs into the high hundreds of millions of dollars.

The return on equity sits at 45.97%, net debt leverage is 1.4 times EBITDA, and CFO John Murphy told analysts that the balance sheet gives Coca-Cola 'increased flexibility and optionality to continue to both reinvest in our business and return capital to share owners.' The dividend is being fed by an accelerating operating engine.