Elon Musk floored by Berkshire Hathaway’s Coca-Cola dividend windfall. How to tap in and get rich
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Elon Musk floored by Berkshire Hathaway’s Coca-Cola dividend windfall. How to tap in and get rich
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk is no stranger to eye-popping sums of money. After all, he currently holds the title of the world’s wealthiest person, with his wealth fluctuating around $1 trillion since SpaceX’s June IPO (1).
But even for Musk, some financial figures are enough to raise an eyebrow.
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Back in 2023, Berkshire Hathaway’s annual report revealed that the investment empire earned $704 million in dividends from its Coca-Cola (KO) holdings (2). Upon hearing the news, Musk couldn’t resist commenting on X, “Berkshire Hathaway high on Coke (3).”
That figure was calculated based on Berkshire’s 400 million shares in Coca-Cola and the 44 cents per share that Coca-Cola paid out in quarterly dividends in 2022 (4).
Fast forward to today, and that dividend payout has climbed even higher. According to Berkshire’s latest 13F filing for Q2 2026, the company still holds 400 million shares in Coca-Cola (5). With Coca-Cola having raised its 2025 quarterly dividend to 51 cents per share, Berkshire could have collected an impressive $816 million in dividend income for the year (6).
As the former CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett’s love for Coca-Cola is well-documented.
On a 2019 Squawk Box episode, Buffett shared with CNBC, “I drink probably five 12-ounce Cokes a day, and that’s about 700 calories, and I’ve been doing it more or less my whole life. I can’t imagine anybody that feels better than I do (7).”
Beyond his appreciation for the taste, Buffett’s Coca-Cola investment became a remarkable source of passive income for the company — and you can learn from his strategy when building your own portfolio.
Here are three takeaways to consider on your path to passive income.
Dividend stocks
Investing in the stock market has never been more accessible, allowing everyday investors to earn passive income through dividend-paying stocks — just like Buffett. Companies that consistently pay dividends enable investors to earn income without having to sell their shares. High-quality companies like Coca-Cola can even increase these dividends over time, amplifying the income stream.
Buffett highlighted the power of this approach in his 2022 letter to shareholders, where he wrote, “The cash dividend we received from Coke in 1994 was $75 million. By 2022, the dividend had increased to $704 million. Growth occurred every year, just as certain as birthdays. All Charlie and I were required to do was cash Coke’s quarterly dividend checks. We expect that those checks are highly likely to grow.”
Indeed, Coca-Cola has raised its dividend every year for the past 63 years, demonstrating a strong commitment to shareholders (8).
However, keep in mind that past performance isn’t a guarantee of future results. When buying a dividend stock, don’t just focus on its payout or yield. Take the time to understand the company’s business fundamentals, and if you’re following Buffett’s lead, look for companies with durable competitive advantages.
If you’re not a lifelong investor like Buffett, it can be hard to know where to invest your money. Before you select stocks, it’s important to understand the market.
Moby offers expert insights and recommendations to help you identify strong, long-term investments backed by advice from former hedge fund analysts.
In four years, and across nearly 400 stock picks, their recommendations have beaten the S&P 500 by almost 12% on average. They also offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Moby’s team spends hundreds of hours sifting through financial news and data to provide you with stock and crypto reports delivered straight to you. Their research keeps you up-to-the-minute on market shifts and can help you reduce the guesswork behind choosing stocks and ETFs.
Platforms like Robinhood are designed to make investing simpler and more approachable.
If you prefer a more hands-on approach, you can also buy and sell individual stocks, fractional shares and options (for qualified traders) — backed by 24/7 support. Stocks, ETFs and their options trades are commission-free.
With access to popular ETFs like the Vanguard S&P 500, you can build diversified exposure without needing to pick individual stocks.
The platform also offers both a traditional IRA and a Roth IRA, so you can choose the tax strategy that fits your retirement plan.
With its recurring investment feature, you can set up automatic investments of your preferred fractional shares, stocks and ETFs on your own schedule.
Over time, this helps make investing a habit and steadily grows your portfolio.
Another way to earn passive income is through real estate, since well-chosen properties can provide investors with a steady stream of cash. It’s also considered a reliable hedge against inflation, with property values and costs often rising alongside the cost of living.
But these days, you don’t need to be a landlord to start investing in real estate. There are plenty of ways to tap into passive income — similar to dividends — but with the inflation hedging power of property.
For example, the Arrived Real Estate Income Fund is designed to generate regular dividend income while focusing on capital preservation.
The fund already manages more than $83 million in assets and has historically delivered an annualized cash yield of more than 8.1%. To put this in perspective, even the “aristocrats” of dividend stocks can struggle to reach a high-water mark of 5.51%, according to Morningstar (9).
How it works is simple: Arrived offers short-term loans for professional real estate projects seeking to renovate, refinance or fund new construction. Each loan goes through a disciplined selection process and is backed by residential real estate, adding another layer of underwriting rigor and downside protection.
Even better, Arrived Real Estate Income Fund investors also have quarterly liquidity options beginning six months after their initial investment, offering more flexibility than many traditional income-focused investments.
Look into different real estate verticals
If you’d prefer investing directly in specific properties, there are other opportunities available. Importantly, for investors with capital on hand, there are ways to diversify outside of the typical avenue of single family real estate projects.
For example, Class B is a type of real estate asset class that tends to perform steadily through market cycles, supported by a broad tenant base and sustained demand for quality, affordable space.
In times of volatility, they often benefit from renters “trading down” from higher-cost options, while limited new supply keeps vacancies in check. Low tenant turnover and long leases can also lead to consistent net operating income (NOI) and stable, robust cash flow for Limited Partner (LP) investors.
Accredited investors can now tap into this opportunity through platforms such as Lightstone DIRECT, which gives accredited investors access to single-asset multifamily and industrial deals.
Lightstone DIRECT lets individual investors tap into the institutional approach of Lightstone, one of the largest privately held real estate investment firms in the U.S., with $12 billion in assets under management.
The platform eliminates middlemen and the extra layers of fees that can add up in traditional real estate investing, usually known as “fee stacking.” This streamlined approach provides more direct access to institutional-quality deals.
Over nearly four decades, Lightstone has delivered strong risk-adjusted performance — including a 27.6% historical net IRR and a 2.54x historical net equity multiple on realized investments since 2004.
Each opportunity requires a $100,000 minimum and undergoes a rigorous review by Lightstone’s principals, including founder David Lichtenstein.
Lightstone also invests at least 20% of its own capital in every deal — roughly four times the industry average. With skin in the game, the firm ensures its interests are directly aligned with those of its investors.
Unsure? Get expert advice
If managing your investments yourself gives you and uncomfortable head rush, you could also consider reaching out to a team of experts.
For those with a portfolio of $250,000 or more, platforms like WiserAdvisor can connect you with vetted professionals who specialize in this kind of planning.
Simply answer a few questions about your savings, retirement timeline and overall investment portfolio.
From there, WiserAdvisor reviews its network to match you — for free — with up to three vetted, reputable advisors aligned with your specific needs.
WiserAdvisor is a matching service and does not provide financial advice directly. All matched advisors are third parties, and specific financial results are not guaranteed.
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