"Warren said if he ever DID issue a dividend, it would not be Fixed. It would large some years, small others, zero others. He said he thinks the idea of "one-time" large payouts (occasionally) makes sense. This could be a window into the thinking of post Buffett distributions."

The flip side of this would be to set an absurdly low dividend and make policy that it could never go above that level. Say a dividend of .2%. If earnings continue to grow and the stock goes up you raise the dividend to keep it at .2%. If earnings decline and the stock goes down cut it. The main thing is with an absurdly low rate we never really get burned but the dividend crowd gets their dividend and the non dividend crowd gets a fairly inconsequential tax. I would prefer this over getting a huge bill one year and a smaller one the next. But for the record I would prefer not having a dividend at all.

Berkshire Hathaway FAQ

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