Alphabet issues first dividend, buyback worth $70 billion

Alphabet said Thursday that it issued a 20-cent-per-share dividend, the first in company history, and that its board authorized share buybacks of up to $70 billion.

The company’s move comes after Meta’s board authorized its first dividend in February. Google’s parent company had $108 billion in cash and marketable securities as of March 31, 2024.

Shares jumped 15% in after-hours trading. The news was announced alongside better-than-expected first-quarter earnings.

Alphabet authorized buybacks of an identical size exactly a year ago, during a period of intense cost-cutting and layoffs.

The dividend is payable on all classes of shares, including Class B Super Voting Shareholders as well as Class C Non-Voting Shareholders. Most Google investors own the company through Class A shares. All shareholders of record as of June 10 will receive the dividend that month.

Co-founder Sergey Brin, who owns more than 730 million Class B and C shares, will receive a payout of $146 million. Co-founder Larry Page, who owns 389 million Class B shares, will receive a $78 million dividend.

Investors are looking for signs of maturity from tech companies. Every major tech firm announced layoffs and cost-cutting at the start of 2022. Investors rewarded those efforts and showed a similar reaction with share buybacks and the initiation of dividends. When Meta announced its first dividend in February, it helped push shares up more than 14%.

It should be noted that Amazon has never issued a dividend, nor has it ever authorized a share buyback close to the size of Google’s. Amazon’s largest share buyback in 2022 was for up to $10 billion.

Amazon is scheduled to report its first-quarter earnings on Tuesday.