Silly indeed. Over the decades when Berkshire has elected to retain earnings vs distributing to shareholders, the capital has been compounded at Warren Buffett

Silly indeed. Over the decades when Berkshire has elected to retain earnings vs distributing to shareholders, the capital has been compounded at Warren Buffett rates of return (and taxed when it hits the books as profit). If it were distributed the treasury would get a one-time dividend payment, but then the individual shareholders would be unlikely to compound that money at ~20%.