The price of each share was supposed to be the same 1/4 of the pre dividend price whether it was given as a dividend or a split. The big difference is that given as a dividend, there would be no tax consequence, if given as a split there is a tax consequence. The other issue is that if given as a dividend, there is a finite number of shares to give out causing hedge funds with naked shorts to be screwed. If given as a regular split, they just divide up all shares and hedge funds are not affected. If it was given as it was supposed to be hedge funds would be scrambling to find shares causing the share price to rise dramatically. More info on Reddit/superstonk.