What's really funny, Microsoft didn't start paying dividends until
2003. Then they did a huge one time dividend in 2004.
And started buying back a bunch of stock in order to prop up the price.
That's where a lot of their cash went. Certainly didn't go into
Windows Mail. :-/
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/309852_software02.html
Microsoft Corp., legendary for its large piles of cash, isn't keeping nearly as much of it
around these days.
Of course, everything is relative, and the company won't be scrounging for change under Bill
Gates' couch cushions anytime soon. But the $29 billion on hand at last count was less than
half the cash and short-term investments held by Microsoft about two years ago.
It's the first time in more than five years that its cash balance has been below $30 billion.
The company's products, led by Windows and Office, are still generating large amounts of
cash -- about $1 billion a month. But Microsoft has taken a series of steps to reduce its cash
balance. Specifically, by Microsoft's count, the company has paid out nearly $100 billion
through dividends and repurchasing its own stock in the past five years.
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BRZ/is_2_23/ai_98709751
In January, Microsoft Corp. surprised shareholders, analysts, and other industry vendors with a
late Christmas gift: dividends. Redmond announced that shareholders of record February 21 will
receive a dividend of--hold on to your hat--eight cents per share on March 7. The company also
announced a 2 for 1 stock split.
In some ways, the dividend is not surprising. Microsoft's legal troubles (or the most serious
of them, anyway) seem to be behind it. The company recently reported surprisingly positive
earnings, particularly in the current economic downturn. Microsoft also has a staggering cash
reserve of more than $40 billion; the dividend will cost the company about $860 million, or
less than the interest on its cash. The Bush administration recently announced a plan to
eliminate taxes on dividends. And, as Redmond noted, Microsoft is the only Dow 30 company that
has never paid a dividend.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A232-2004Jul20.html
Microsoft Corp., which has amassed an unparalleled cash hoard of nearly $60 billion from its
world-dominating software business, announced yesterday that it would return a large chunk of
it to shareholders, much of it through a one-time dividend of $3 for every share held by
investors.
With 10.79 billion shares outstanding as of March 31, the company will pay out more than $32
billion in that one stroke, pending approval of the plan by shareholders.
Company chairman and founder Bill Gates stands to get about $3.3 billion, and he pledged
yesterday to give the entire amount to his family's foundation, already the nation's largest.
Chief executive Steven A. Ballmer would get about $1.2 billion. But other large holders include
mutual funds with millions of average investors, including the Vanguard 500 Index Fund, the
Fidelity Magellan Fund and the College Retirement Equities Fund.
The software giant, which last fiscal year generated profit that averaged $1.1 million every
hour, has been under mounting pressure from Wall Street to put its growing pool of cash to
better use than simply earning interest. Despite Microsoft's remarkable business success, the
company's stock price has languished for two years, while many other technology stocks have
posted significant gains.
In addition to the one-time payout, the company said it would double its annual dividend to 32
cents per share and buy as much as $30 billion of its own stock over the next four years.
Buying back shares rewards all shareholders because it tends to drive up the price of the
remaining stock.
