Monday, April 16, 2007

Shareholder Freebies

What are 'Shareholder Freebies' (which are also known as 'Corporate Freebies')? Those are the free things (or benefits) that you get by being a shareholder of a company, over and above any dividends or growth in stock price.

As an example, the local RadioShack Corp. (RSH) store has informed me that Radio Shack gives a 10% discount to shareholders of RadioShack, and that to prove ownership, I would just need to bring in a Radio Shack stock certificate or copy of a stock brokerage firm statement showing my shareholdings.

The following three freebies applies to shareholders who elected to receive their annual reports in printed form.

Shareholders of the Boston Beer Company (SAM) received a Samuel Adams Talking Beer Bottle Opener last year.

Shareholders of California Water Service Group (CWT), received twelve recipe cards, for such things as Strawberry-Mango Smoothie, Portuguese Sweet Bread, and Sweet Corn Vegetable Soup.

Shareholders of McDonalds (MCD) received a coupon last year for an Asian Salad for free at any McDonalds. This coupon appeared between page 12 and 13 of the annual report. The company probably places it there to see how many people actually read the report.

William Wrigley Jr. Co. (WWY) had been known to send out free gum. Starbucks (SBUX) has given out free gift cards. AT&T (T) has sent out free calling cards.

Time Warner (TWX) has been known to be very generous with a big goodie bag filled with everything from CD's to magazines to books, etc. at their annual meetings.

Disney (DIS) used to give out free passes to Disneyland when they held their annual meetings in Anaheim in years passed. The Anaheim Convention Center was filled with families with little kids. The parents were smart enough to buy shares in their children's name in addition to their own shareholdings, and every shareholder who walked through the door, even if they were in a stroller, got a Disneyland pass for the day. Then several years ago, Disney started holding their meetings in various cities around the country and stopped giving out passes.

Unfortunately, it's almost impossible to know prior to the meeting if a company will be giving out anything or not. Nor can you generally find out if a freebie will be send out with an annual report until it arrives. There are many more companies that give out shareholder freebies. If I hear about more interesting freebies, I will keep you posted. Or if you hear of interesting ones, please let me know.

Author owns DIS, TWX, MCD, CWT, and SAM.

17 comments:

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harry said...

Shareholder Freebies in addition to dividends and DRIPs. Many companies offer shareholders a variety of free and discounted products and services.
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John said...

This site gives information on benefits that you get by being a shareholder of a company, over and above any dividends or growth in stock price.
Some conglomerates will offer favorable pricing from some of their subsidiaries.
GEICO gives their shareholders a big discount.
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Unknown said...

The shareholder perk is becoming an endangered species, but there are still a few good ones out there. So let me throw some support behind the practice by singling out some of my favorite offers.
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Anonymous said...

Shareholders of McDonalds (MCD) received a coupon last year for an Asian Salad for free at any McDonalds. This coupon appeared between page 12 and 13 of the annual report. The company probably places it there to see how many people actually read the report.
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