This Company Just Paid Out $6.8 Billion. Its AI Bill Was 4x That

On August 20, 2026, Microsoft (MSFT) paid out a $6.8 billion dividend, the largest single-day payout among 26 companies going ex-dividend that day. Applied Materials (AMAT) led the other companies with a $421 million distribution, accounting for less than 7% of Microsoft's single-day payout. Microsoft's AI capex (capital expenditure) for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2026, reached $115.948 billion, a significant increase from $64.551 billion the previous year.

Despite this substantial investment, Microsoft still managed to return over $43 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases during the fiscal year, committing to staying free cash flow positive in FY2027. Azure, Microsoft's cloud computing division, generated $100 billion in annual revenue, while Copilot had reached 30 million paid seats.

The company's commercial RPO (revenue per operating unit) grew to $678 billion, an 84% increase. Despite the hefty investment in AI infrastructure, Microsoft continues to lead in terms of dividend payouts, with its latest check totaling $6,757,245,950.