{"slug":"what-is-a-special-dividend","qid":"famous_specials","label":"Large special dividends from well-known payers since 2012","post_title":"What Is a Special Dividend? (With Examples)","post_url":"/blog/what-is-a-special-dividend#q-famous_specials","columns":["payer_year","year","special_dividend_usd"],"rows":[{"payer_year":"COST 2023","year":2023,"special_dividend_usd":15},{"payer_year":"COST 2020","year":2020,"special_dividend_usd":10},{"payer_year":"COST 2012","year":2012,"special_dividend_usd":7},{"payer_year":"COST 2017","year":2017,"special_dividend_usd":7},{"payer_year":"CME 2026","year":2026,"special_dividend_usd":6.15},{"payer_year":"FIZZ 2020","year":2020,"special_dividend_usd":6},{"payer_year":"CME 2024","year":2024,"special_dividend_usd":5.8},{"payer_year":"CME 2023","year":2023,"special_dividend_usd":5.25},{"payer_year":"LYB 2022","year":2022,"special_dividend_usd":5.2},{"payer_year":"COST 2015","year":2015,"special_dividend_usd":5},{"payer_year":"CME 2022","year":2022,"special_dividend_usd":4.5},{"payer_year":"CME 2017","year":2017,"special_dividend_usd":3.5}],"shape":"ranking","sql":"SELECT\n    concat(ticker, ' ', toString(toYear(ex_dividend_date))) AS payer_year,\n    toYear(ex_dividend_date) AS year,\n    round(cash_amount, 2) AS special_dividend_usd\nFROM global_markets.stocks_dividends\nWHERE frequency = 0\n  AND cash_amount >= 1\n  AND ticker IN ('COST', 'FIZZ', 'CME', 'LYB', 'LVS', 'EBAY', 'MPC', 'WSM', 'BBY', 'HRB')\n  AND ex_dividend_date >= '2012-01-01'\nORDER BY special_dividend_usd DESC, payer_year ASC\nLIMIT 12","computed_at":"2026-07-15T10:02:28.852376+00:00","elapsed":0.001987932}