[dpark]

> A rational stock valuation is the NPV of all future dividends.

Investors are not rational. Nor are they able to see the future. Future dividends have next to nothing to do with the present price of GOOG.

> There must be a guarantee that dividends will be paid equally, otherwise there would be no rational way to price the class C stock

What kind of guarantee would you imagine is meaningful in a world where 3 people control all decisions? If they promise today that dividends will be equally split, what stops them from tomorrow saying that class C gets no dividends?

[jcampbell1]

> Investors are not rational. Nor are they able to see the future. Future dividends have next to nothing to do with the present price of GOOG.

Blah, blah, blah. Let's assume google issued a share that had 1/10 dividend rights and 1/10 voting rights. What would the value of the share be?

A share of stock confers two things. Voting rights, and dividend rights. That is what people are buying. Voting, and dividends.

> If they promise today that dividends will be equally split, what stops them from tomorrow saying that class C gets no dividends?

bylaws

[dpark]

> Let's assume google issued a share that had 1/10 dividend rights and 1/10 voting rights. What would the value of the share be?

A lot more than 1/10 of a standard share, because dividends and voting rights are not the only things of value with respect to a company. In particular, there's also the potential for acquisitions and mergers.

> A share of stock confers two things. Voting rights, and dividend rights. That is what people are buying. Voting, and dividends.

A share of stock confers partial ownership of the company. That's what it confers. It might come with voting rights (or not), and it might come with dividend rights (or not).

Are you actually operating under the belief that the new class of Google will have zero value unless Google eventually issues dividends?

> bylaws

You mean the bylaws that Larry, Eric, and Sergey can change due to their supermajority voting control?

[Drbble]

You should check how much dividend the former shareholders of Instagram or Plumtree received.