 A prominent example of a special dividend was the $3 dividend announced by Microsoft in 2004, to partially relieve its balance sheet of a large cash balance.A more recent example of a special dividend is the $1 dividend announced by SAIC (U.S. company) in 2013, just prior to it splitting off its solutions business into a new company named Leidos.For special dividends, the ex-dividend date is set according to the size of the dividend in relation to the price of the security, and dividends or distributions of less than 25% are subject to the 'regular' rules for ex-dividend dates.