The Costco special dividend 2026 — a $12 per share payment announced on December 17, 2025 and delivered to shareholders on January 16, 2026, totaling approximately $5.3 billion in cash distributed in a single transaction — is one of the most revealing financial events in recent American retail history. Not because the dividend itself is surprising — Costco has paid six special dividends since 2013, including a $15 per share payment in January 2024 — but because of the specifi