Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.B), The Coca-Cola Company (KO), Wells Fargo & Co (WFC): Why Warren Buffett Doesn’t Pay Dividends

And what does Berkshire get in return? Money, that’s what, and lots of it.

For its $5 billion investment in Goldman, which spanned a mere four and a half years, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.B) took home $3.2 billion in profit. And its equally sized $5 billion investment in B of A could end up being even more lucrative given the accompanying warrants to purchase 700 million shares of the bank for $7.14 a share. At today’s price, that equates to a profit of $3.7 billion; excluding the dividend payments Berkshire has and continues to receive on its preferred shares.

The point is that, while Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.B) may very well carry on being great, there’s little reason to believe that it can be as great without Buffett as it has been with him. And it’s for this reason that Buffett’s anti-dividend policy may need to be updated while he’s still at the helm.

The article Why Warren Buffett Doesn’t Pay Dividends originally appeared on Fool.com.

John Maxfield owns shares of Bank of America. The Motley Fool recommends Berkshire Hathaway and Goldman Sachs. The Motley Fool owns shares of Bank of America and Berkshire Hathaway.

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