"But I said, you know, 'Don't you drink water?'" Ackman recalled. "And he said, 'Bill, I haven't had water in 48 years.'"
It's not the first time Ackman has brought up Buffett and water. At a 2015 event celebrating Buffett's 50 years at Berkshire, Ackman spent most of an hour praising him. Then he was asked whether he'd ever disagreed with Buffett.
"I have a problem with Berkshire's ownership of Coke," Ackman said. "Coca-Cola's business model is to displace the water that children and adults consume with sugar water." A Coca-Cola spokesman called the comments "irresponsible" at the time.
Is the 48-year claim literally true? Hard to say. Ackman didn't say when the dinner took place, and Buffett, 96, hasn't commented publicly. His soda habit, at least, is well documented: Buffett told CNBC in 2019 that he drinks "probably five 12-ounce Cokes a day." As it happens, 48 years is the same number Buffett used in his 1985 shareholder letter, when he converted to the new Cherry Coke after "48 years of allegiance to another soft drink."
Either way, the soda habit has been very good to Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.B).
The $1.3 billion bet that kept its fizz
Berkshire started buying Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) stock in 1988, months after the Black Monday crash, and finished building its stake in the mid-1990s. Today it owns 400 million shares, or roughly 9% of the company, at a total cost of about $1.3 billion. At the stock's Oct. 30 close of $94.08, that stake is worth roughly $37.6 billion.
But the real payoff is the dividend. On Feb. 19, Coca-Cola raised its quarterly payout to 53 cents a share, its 64th straight annual increase. That works out to $2.12 a share per year, or about $848 million for Berkshire annually. In other words, Berkshire now collects roughly 65% of its original investment back in cash every year just for holding on.
Buffett has marveled at the math himself. In his 2022 shareholder letter, he noted that Berkshire's Coke dividend was $75 million in 1994 and had grown to $704 million by 2022.
Coke stock is surging
Coca-Cola is usually seen as a steady, slow-moving stock. This year, it's been anything but. Shares closed at a record $95.34 on Oct. 22 and are up about 37% in 2026.
On Oct. 27, the company reported third-quarter revenue of $13.4 billion, up 7% from a year earlier, while comparable earnings per share rose 11% to 91 cents, ahead of the 88 cents analysts expected. Global unit case volume grew 5% and the company raised its full-year guidance.
There's a bit of irony in the numbers, too. Coca-Cola's water volume grew 8% worldwide in the quarter, so plenty of people are drinking the stuff even if its most famous shareholder isn't. (In North America, though, the company's water, sports, coffee and tea category declined.)
Why Buffett finally bought Coke after 52 years
Buffett's history with the brand goes back to childhood. In his 1989 shareholder letter, he wrote that he had his first Coke in 1935 or 1936. Soon after, he was buying six-packs for 25 cents at his family's grocery store and reselling the bottles around the neighborhood for a nickel apiece.
