Comment by baobabKoodaa

A dividend is not "new value" or "unrelated to your ownership stake". If you hold stock worth $100 and you get a $2 dividend, value of the stock drops to $98. Just like a stock split, or a cryptocurrency hard fork: before the event you had some assets worth $100 and after the event you have some assets worth $100. (Plus some -- mostly random -- fluctuation in asset prices.)