Warren Buffett once joked that a quarter of his body is made up of Coca-Cola because of how much of it he drinks every day. And it's no wonder he loves it so much considering he profits from every bottle, can and fountain pour sold around the world.
Thanks to his company's decades-old stake in the soft drink giant, those profits keep rolling in whether the stock price is up, down or flat.
Through Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett owns 400 million shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO). The $1.3 billion investment he made between 1988 and 1994 is now worth over $27 billion, and it spits out over three-quarters of a billion dollars a year in dividends alone.
But how much does Buffett actually make every time someone buys a Coke?
Let's Break It Down
In 2024, Coca-Cola sold approximately 33.7 billion unit cases of beverages globally. A unit case represents 24 eight-ounce servings (the size of Coke's classic glass bottle), which adds up to about 808.8 billion servings sold in total last year.
According to the company's annual report, trademark Coca-Cola products— Coca-Cola Classic, Diet Coke, Coke Zero Sugar, and other Coke-branded drinks—accounted for 47% of all volume. That means around 15.8 billion unit cases, or roughly 379.2 billion individual 8-ounce servings, were trademark Coke.
Coca-Cola generated $47.06 billion in revenue in 2024, with an estimated $22.1 billion (or 47%) of that coming from trademark Coke products. Net income was $10.63 billion, which means an estimated $5 billion in profit came from Coke-branded beverages.
And dividends? Coca-Cola paid out a total of $8.36 billion in dividends to shareholders in 2024. If we again assume that ~47% of that came from trademark Coke, that's around $3.93 billion in dividends tied to the company's namesake drink.
That boils down to about $0.01036 in dividends per 8 oz serving of Coca-Cola sold.
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So What Does Buffett Get?
Berkshire Hathaway received $776 million in Coca-Cola dividends last year. That's nearly 9.3% of all dividends paid by the company, and it means Buffett earns roughly $0.00096 for every 8-ounce serving of Coke sold worldwide.
In other words, Buffett makes just under one-tenth of a penny every time someone drinks a Coke. It doesn't sound like much until you multiply it by nearly 400 billion.
And keep in mind, Buffett hasn't reinvested in Coca-Cola since the early 1990s. He still owns the same number of shares. But the dividend keeps going up.
Coca-Cola raised its dividend earlier this year and is expected to pay out a total of $2.04 per share in dividends in 2025. That increase marks 63 consecutive years of dividend growth, pushing Berkshire's annual yield on its original investment to nearly 63%.
This Is What Passive Income Looks Like
Buffett's Coca-Cola investment is the textbook example of "money working while you sleep." He bought once, held forever and now collects over $2 million per day in dividends from a single stock.
That's the power of income-producing investments. When you own assets that generate consistent cash flow, you don't have to constantly chase gains or time the market.
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Coca-Cola's Still Popping
Despite operating in a slow-growth industry, Coca-Cola remains one of the most reliable dividend payers on the market. The company is a member of the exclusive "Dividend Kings" list, companies that have raised their dividends for at least 50 consecutive years.
The stock currently trades at around $69, with a forward dividend yield of 2.93%. And Wall Street still sees some upside. This week, JPMorgan raised its price target on Coca-Cola from $77 to $79, signaling confidence in the company's long-term stability.
A 2.93% yield might not turn heads next to Buffett's 63%, but back in 1994, when Berkshire finished buying its shares, Coca-Cola's dividend yield was right around the same. The difference is Buffett held on for three decades and let time do the heavy lifting.
You might not make a penny every time someone buys a Coke. But with patience and a long-term vision, you can start building income that pays you while you sleep.
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