Microsoft to pay out cash reserves to shareholders

Wednesday, July 21, 2004

SEATTLE -- Microsoft Corp. plans to pay out most of its cash hoard directly to shareholders through a combination of dividends and stock buybacks totaling up to $75 billion over four years, the software maker said Tuesday, ending speculation about what it planned to do with its billions in cash reserves. Microsoft, which has a near monopoly on the software that runs the world's desktop computers, generated $10.4 billion in cash during its 2003 fiscal year alone. But its stock price has been little changed for almost three years, increasing pressure on the company to do something with its cash reserves that now total at least $56 billion.

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