Last Monday, the value of the Coca-Cola brand suddenly dropped by four billion euros, from 242 to 238 billion. While the company’s share was worth just under $56.10 at around 3 p.m., as “Eurosport” reported, it was only worth $55.20 at 3:30 p.m.
The reason for the nosedive seemed to be quickly identified: minutes earlier, at a press conference before his Portuguese team’s European Championship match against Hungary, soccer superstar and fitness junkie Cristiano Ronaldo had demonstratively removed two Coke bottles from the cameras’ field of vision and spoken out in favor of water.
Several media, including our editorial team, reported on the Ronaldo effect – the supposed Ronaldo effect, as is now clear. In fact, the stock price didn’t react to CR7 at all – at least not to the extent that it was written about in the first place.
Coca-Cola pays dividends
Monday, the day Ronaldo had provided a memorable moment, was also the day “Coca-Cola shares traded for the first time without the subscription right for the upcoming dividend,” as the “FAZ” reported.
In concrete terms, this means that Coca-Cola distributes quarterly dividends to its shareholders – that had happened on Monday. In this case, it was about 42 cents per share, which will flow to shareholders on July 1. This is about the discount that has been awarded to Ronaldo’s action.
The share price slide because of Ronaldo’s alleged action nevertheless remains curious, in part because Coca-Cola, the official sponsor of the 2021 European Championship, had subsequently said that “everyone has a right to their beverage preferences” and different “tastes and needs.”
Ronaldo is unlikely to care about the hysteria surrounding his action; he wants to defend the European Championship title with Portugal. On the way to achieving this goal, he has to face Germany on Saturday (6:00 p.m., LIVE with us in the ticker).
