Occidental Petroleum Corp. is paying a special dividend to Warren Buffett in shares rather than cash, diluting investors including activist billionaire Carl Icahn as the indebted shale explorer grapples with oil’s collapse.
The Houston-based oil producer issued common shares worth about $257 million to honor a quarterly payout on Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s preferred stock, according to a filing Wednesday. Occidental had been paying cash since Buffett invested $10 billion last year to help fund the company’s $37 billion takeover of Anadarko Petroleum Corp., demanding an 8% annual dividend.
