Hi bartlet4america,
If you owned one share of Bell Telephone Company (the company that
became AT&T) stock in 1877, then today you would own the following:
- one share of AT&T stock
- four shares of Lucent stock
- two shares of AT&T Wireless stock
- two shares of Comcast Class A stock
- one share of Agere Class B stock
- some cash
Here is a detailed explanation of the answer:
According to the AT&T web site, the Bell Telephone Company was founded
in 1877. By the end of the 19th century, the Bell Telephone Company
became AT&T. You can read about AT&T's history on the following
pages:
AT&T History
http://www.att.com/history/
AT&T History: Origins
http://www.att.com/history/history1.html
AT&T History: Milestones
http://www.att.com/history/milestones.html
AT&T Investor Relations: AT&T Profile: History
http://www.att.com/ir/ap/history.html
In order to determine what shares of Bell Telephone Company stock in
1877 would be today, it is necessary to consider the stock splits and
spin-offs of AT&T, the stock splits and spin-offs of the companies
that were spun off of AT&T, the stock splits and spin-offs of the
companies that were spun off of the spin-offs of AT&T, and so on.
Fortunately we are only dealing with one share of Bell Telephone
Company/AT&T stock, so a lot of the spin-offs can be ignored (since
really small numbers of shares were often not enough to gain shares in
many of the spin-offs).
======================================================================
AT&T's stock splits and spin-offs
---------------------------------
The following page on AT&T's investor relations web site lists all of
the stock splits and spin-offs that have occurred in AT&T's history:
AT&T Shareowner Services: Tax Basis Information: Stock Events
http://www.att.com/ir/ss/tbi/reorgbknd.html
According to that page, a 3 for 1 stock split occurred on April 24,
1959:
"As a result of the 3 for 1 stock split on April 24, 1959, AT&T
shareowners received 2 additional shares of stock for every 1 share
owned on April 24, 1959."
An AT&T shareowner who held one share of stock prior to the stock
split would have received two additional shares on April 24, 1959,
bringing his/her total number of shares to three.
On May 28, 1964, a 2 for 1 stock split occurred:
"As a result of the 2 for 1 stock split on May 28, 1964, AT&T
shareowners received 1 additional share of stock for every 1 share
owned on May 28, 1964."
An AT&T shareowner who held three shares of stock prior to the stock
split would have received three additional shares on May 28, 1964,
bringing his/her total number of shares to six.
On January 1, 1984, a divestiture occurred:
"As a result of the AT&T Divestiture on January 1, 1984 (the
"Divestiture"), AT&T shareowners received one share in each of the
seven regional bell operating companies for every 10 shares of AT&T
owned on the record date of December 30, 1983. Cash was received in
lieu of any fractional shares of stock in each of the seven regional
bell operating companies."
The seven regional bell operating companies were:
Ameritech
Bell Atlantic
Bell South
NYNEX
Pacific Telesis Group
Southwestern Bell
US West
An AT&T shareowner who held six shares of stock on December 30, 1983
would not have had the minimum number of shares necessary (ten) to
receive any shares of stock in the seven regional bell operating
companies. Instead, the AT&T shareowner would have received some
cash.
On September 30, 1996, the spin-off of Lucent occurred:
"AT&T shareowners of record on September 17, 1996, received a
distribution of .324084 shares of common stock of Lucent Technologies,
Inc. ("Lucent") on September 30, 1996, for every AT&T share owned.
Shareowners entitled to a fractional share of Lucent received a cash
payment instead. The fractional shares of Lucent were aggregated and
sold, with the net proceeds paid as appropriate to those entitled to a
fractional share."
An AT&T shareowner who held six shares of stock on September 17, 1996
would have received one share of Lucent stock and some cash (since 6 x
0.324084 = 1.944504).
On December 31, 1996, the spin-off of NCR occurred:
"AT&T shareowners of record on December 13, 1996, received a
distribution of .0625 shares of common stock of NCR Corp. ("NCR") on
December 31, 1996, for every AT&T share owned. Shareowners entitled to
a fractional share of NCR received a cash payment instead. The
fractional shares of NCR common stock were aggregated and sold, with
the net proceeds paid as appropriate to those entitled to a fractional
share."
An AT&T shareowner who held six shares of stock on December 13, 1996
would not have received any shares of NCR stock (since 6 x 0.0625 =
0.375). Instead, the AT&T shareowner would have received some cash.
On April 15, 1999, a 3 for 2 stock split occurred:
"As a result of the 3 for 2 stock split on April 15, 1999, AT&T
shareowners received one additional share of stock for every 2 shares
owned on the record date of March 31, 1999. Cash was received in lieu
of any fractional share, unless the shareowner participated in the
AT&T Dividend Reinvestment and Stock Purchase Plan (DRSPP) on the
record date. In that case, all whole and fractional shares were
credited to their DRSPP account."
An AT&T shareowner who held six shares of stock on March 31, 1999
would have received three additional shares on April 15, 1999,
bringing his/her total number of shares to nine.
On July 9, 2001, the split-off of AT&T Wireless occurred:
"AT&T shareowners of record on June 22, 2001, received a distribution
of .3218 shares of common stock of AT&T Wireless Services, Inc. ("AT&T
Wireless") on July 9, 2001, for every AT&T share owned. Shareowners
entitled to a fractional share of AT&T Wireless received a cash
payment instead. The fractional shares of AT&T Wireless stock were
aggregated and sold, with the net proceeds paid as appropriate to
those entitled to a fractional share."
An AT&T shareowner who held nine shares of stock on June 22, 2001
would have received two shares of AT&T Wireless stock and some cash
(since 9 x 0.3218 = 2.8962).
On November 18, 2002, the spin-off and merger of AT&T Broadband with
Comcast occurred:
"As a result of the spin-off of AT&T Broadband on November 18, 2002,
AT&T shareowners of record as of November 15, 2002 (the "Record Date")
were entitled to receive a distribution of 1 share of AT&T Broadband
stock for each share of AT&T stock held by such shareowner as of the
Record Date (the "Distribution"). All shares of AT&T Broadband stock
were converted into shares of Comcast Corporation shortly after the
Distribution as a result of the merger of a wholly owned subsidiary of
Comcast Corporation with and into AT&T Broadband (the "Merger").
Shareowners entitled to receive a fractional share of Comcast
Corporation received a cash payment instead."
An AT&T shareowner who held nine shares of stock on November 15, 2002
would have received nine shares of AT&T Broadband stock. Each share
of AT&T Broadband stock would have been converted into 0.3235 shares
of Comcast Class A stock, according to the following page on Comcast's
investor relations web site:
http://www.cmcsk.com/transTaxBasis.cfm
So nine shares of AT&T Broadband stock would have been converted into
two shares of Comcast Class A stock and some cash (since 9 x 0.3235 =
2.9115).
On November 18, 2002, a 1 for 5 reverse stock split also occurred:
"As a result of the 1 for 5 reverse stock split on November 18, 2002,
AT&T shareowners received 1 share of AT&T stock in exchange for every
5 AT&T shares owned on the effective date of November 18, 2002. Cash
was received in lieu of any fractional share unless the shareowner
participated in the AT&T Dividend Reinvestment and Stock Purchase Plan
(DRSPP) on the effective date. In that case, all fractional shares
were credited to the DRSPP account, unless your post-reverse split
account reflected less than one full share, in which case the
post-reverse split fractional share was sold and the proceeds were
distributed to the shareowner."
An AT&T shareowner who held nine shares of stock prior to the reverse
stock split would have received one share of stock and some cash in
exchange for the nine shares on November 18, 2002.
======================================================================
Lucent's stock splits and spin-offs
-----------------------------------
As a result of the Lucent spin-off from AT&T, an AT&T shareowner who
held six shares of stock on September 17, 1996 would have received one
share of Lucent stock and some cash.
According to the FAQ on Lucent's investor relations web site, two 2
for 1 stock splits have occurred in Lucent's history:
"Has Lucent Technologies ever announced a stock split?
Yes, Lucent has announced two 2-for-1 stock splits. The shares for the
first split were issued on April 1, 1998 to shareowners of record on
March 6, 1998. The shares for the second split were issued on April 1,
1999, to shareowners of record on March 5, 1999."
Lucent: Investor Relations: FAQ
http://www.lucent.com/investor/faq.html
A Lucent shareowner who held one share on March 6, 1998 would have
received one additional share on April 1, 1998, bringing his/her total
number of shares to two.
A Lucent shareowner who held two shares on March 5, 1999 would have
received two additional shares on April 1, 1999, bringing his/her
total number of shares to four.
Lucent's investor relations web site also has information on the
company's spin-offs:
Lucent: Investor Relations: Historical Information: Spin-offs &
Divestitures
http://www.lucent.com/investor/spin.html
That page is confusing in that it lists several press releases instead
of the names of the spin-offs. I have determined that there have been
two spin-offs, Avaya and Agere. This is verified on Lucent's Tax
Basis Worksheet, which shows Avaya and Agere as the only spin-offs of
the company:
Lucent: Investor Relations: Tax Basis Worksheet
http://www.lucent.com/investor/taxinfo.html
The following PDF file on Avaya's investor relations web site has
information on the Avaya spin-off:
Avaya: Investor Relations: Cost Basis Worksheet
http://investors.avaya.com/downloads/cost_allocation.pdf
According to that file, the spin-off of Avaya occurred on September
30, 2000:
"Lucent shareholders of record on Sept. 20, 2000, received a
distribution of 1 share of common stock of Avaya for every 12 shares
of Lucent stock owned. Full shares of Avaya should have been received
on or about Sept. 30. As previously announced, shareowners entitled to
a fractional share of Avaya will receive a cash payment instead. The
check contained in this package represents this cash payment. The
fractional shares of Avaya common stock have been aggregated and sold
through an independent agent, with the net proceeds being paid as
appropriate to those entitled to a fractional share."
A Lucent shareowner who held four shares of stock on September 20,
2000 would not have had the minimum number of shares necessary
(twelve) to receive any shares of Avaya stock. Instead, the Lucent
shareowner would have received some cash.
The following PDF file on Agere's investor relations web site has
information on the Agere spin-off:
Agere: Investor Relations: Cost Basis Worksheet
http://www.agere.com/investor/docs/tax_percentages.pdf
According to that file, the spin-off of Agere occurred on June 1,
2002:
"Lucent common shareowners of record as of May 3, 2002 received a
distribution of full shares of Agere Class A common stock and Agere
Class B common stock based on a distribution ratio of one share of
Agere Class A common stock for every 92.768991 shares of Lucent common
stock and one share of Agere Class B common stock for every 3.779818
shares of Lucent common stock. Those full shares of Agere Class A
common stock and Agere Class B common stock should have been received
on or about June 1, 2002. As previously announced, shareowners
entitled to a fractional share of Agere Class A common stock or Agere
Class B common stock will receive a cash payment instead of a
fractional share. The fractional shares of Agere Class A common stock
and Agere Class B common stock have been aggregated and sold through
an independent agent and the net proceeds have been paid to Lucent
common shareholders entitled to a fractional share of Agere Class A
common stock or Agere Class B common stock. The enclosed check
represents your allocable share of the sales proceeds. A statement
accompanying the check shows how much of the check is attributable to
fractional shares of Agere Class A common stock and Agere Class B
common stock."
A Lucent shareowner who held four shares of stock on May 3, 2002 would
not have had the minimum number of shares necessary (approximately
ninety-three) to receive any shares of Agere Class A stock, so he/she
would have received some cash instead. In addition, he/she would have
received one share of Agere Class B stock, along with some more cash.
======================================================================
Agere's stock splits and spin-offs
----------------------------------
As a result of the Agere spin-off from Lucent, a Lucent shareowner who
held four shares of stock on May 3, 2002 would have received one share
of Agere Class B stock and some cash.
According to Yahoo! Finance, no stock splits have occurred for Agere
Class B stock:
Yahoo! Finance: Agere Class B: Chart
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=agrb&d=c
According to Agere's investor relations web site, Agere has had no
spin-offs of its own:
Agere: Investor Relations
http://www.agere.com/investor/index.html
======================================================================
AT&T Wireless's stock splits and spin-offs
------------------------------------------
As a result of the AT&T Wireless split-off from AT&T, an AT&T
shareowner who held nine shares of stock on June 22, 2001 would have
received two shares of AT&T Wireless stock and some cash.
According to Yahoo! Finance, no stock splits have occurred for AT&T
Wireless stock:
Yahoo! Finance: AT&T Wireless: Chart
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=awe&d=c
According to AT&T Wireless's investor relations web site, AT&T
Wireless has had no spin-offs of its own:
AT&T Wireless: Investor Relations
http://www.attws.com/wirelessir/
======================================================================
Comcast's stock splits and spin-offs
------------------------------------
As a result of the AT&T Broadband spin-off from AT&T and subsequent
merger with Comcast, an AT&T shareowner who held nine shares of stock
on November 15, 2002 would have received two shares of Comcast Class A
stock and some cash.
According to Yahoo! Finance, no stock splits have occurred for Comcast
Class A stock since 1994:
Yahoo! Finance: Comcast Class A: Chart
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=cmcsa&d=c
According to Comcast's investor relations web site, Comcast has had no
spin-offs of its own:
Comcast: Investor Relations
http://www.cmcsk.com/
======================================================================
If you have any questions, please request a clarification before
rating this answer.
Regards,
sldreamer
Search strategy:
at&t 1877 stock
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lucent
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at&t wireless
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comcast
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