It doesn't have to do with either. Microsoft stock is worth more now than it was in 1999, and that's without factoring in dividends. e.g. this year it paid out

It doesn't have to do with either. Microsoft stock is worth more now than it was in 1999, and that's without factoring in dividends. e.g. this year it paid out $12b in dividends. Today's dividends are part of its valuation today, but dividends paid out ten years ago is just cash that's gone out of the company to an owner, reducing the value of the company, and isn't really part of today's valuations. That is to say, he'd have received billions in dividend payments for two decades and he'd still own the same share of the company that's now worth more than it was in 1999. The reason he isn't as rich is because of charity.