📅 On This Day
Apple and Tesla Split Shares on the Same Historic Day
On August 31, 2020, Apple executed a 4-for-1 stock split — dropping its share price from roughly $500 to $125 — while Tesla ran a 5-for-1 split the very same day, bringing its price from $2,213 to $444. Neither move changed company fundamentals, but both opened the door to a wave of retail investors flooding markets during the pandemic. For Apple shareholders, the dividend per share was adjusted proportionally: the total payout held steady, even as a lower nominal price drew fresh income-seeking buyers.
Two giants, one day: the twin splits of August 31, 2020 rewrote what 'accessible' meant for retail investors.
AAPL — Apple Inc.
🇺🇸 US
Source: The Wall Street Journal; CNBC
📅 On This Day
Apple and Tesla Split Shares on the Same Historic Day
On August 31, 2020, Apple executed a 4-for-1 stock split — dropping its share price from roughly $500 to $125 — while Tesla ran a 5-for-1 split the very same day, bringing its price from $2,213 to $444. Neither move changed company fundamentals, but both opened the door to a wave of retail investors flooding markets during the pandemic. For Apple shareholders, the dividend per share was adjusted proportionally: the total payout held steady, even as a lower nominal price drew fresh income-seeking buyers.
Two giants, one day: the twin splits of August 31, 2020 rewrote what 'accessible' meant for retail investors.
AAPL — Apple CDR (CAD Hedged)
🇺🇸 US
Source: The Wall Street Journal; CNBC
🌍 Around the World
France's Dividend Withholding Maze Costs Investors Time and Money
France withholds 30% on dividends paid to non-residents under its prélèvement forfaitaire, though the U.S.-France tax treaty can reduce that rate to 15%. The catch: relief at source is not always applied automatically, meaning many investors holding French ADRs such as TTE or SNY receive the full 30% hit and must file French forms 5000 and 5001 to reclaim the excess — a process that historically takes one to three years. In IRAs, the story is bleaker still: any amount withheld is permanently lost.
Whether you recover the excess 15% depends less on the treaty and more on your broker's paperwork.
🇫🇷 FR
Source: PwC Tax Summaries; Tax Foundation Europe
🔥 Dividend Streak
GM's Dividend Streak Didn't Just End — Bankruptcy Erased the Shares
General Motors had long been a Dow Jones stalwart and a pillar of American dividend culture before the financial crisis laid bare how fragile that standing could be. When GM suspended its dividend in 2008, investors might have hoped for a temporary pause; instead, a 2009 bankruptcy filing wiped out the original common stock entirely, turning legacy shareholders' income stream into a total loss. A new GM emerged with government backing, but dividend payments didn't resume until 2014.
GM is the cautionary tale that reminds income investors a streak can end not with a cut, but a zero.
GM — General Motors Company
🇺🇸 US
Source: CNNMoney; GM bankruptcy filings
💡 Did You Know
Preferred Stock Keeps Solving the Same Problem Across Two Centuries
When the U.S. Treasury injected capital into banks under TARP in 2008 by purchasing preferred stock, it was running a playbook nearly identical to the one Maryland used with the B&O Railroad in 1827: provide capital, take a senior dividend-paying claim, and stop short of owning the common equity. From 1820s canal companies to modern bank rescues, preferred stock keeps getting reinvented for the same fundamental reason — someone needs capital, someone else wants priority income, and neither side wants the rigidity of straight debt.
Nearly 200 years apart, Maryland's railroad deal and TARP share a surprisingly common blueprint.
US
Source: U.S. Treasury; Evans (1929)