DBJAY
07-07-2003, 05:53 PM
Microsoft's $10 billion giveaway?
Wall Street debates whether a rumored special dividend is the best use of Microsoft's cash.
July 7, 2003: 2:43 PM EDT
By Paul R. La Monica, CNN/Money Senior Writer
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Forget about Pepsi and its paltry "Play for a Billion" game. Rumor has it that Microsoft is considering giving away at least $10 billion of its massive $46 billion cash horde.
According to a report by a sister publication of the Financial Times, Microsoft is said to be mulling a special dividend of more than $10 billion to existing shareholders. A spokeswoman for Microsoft would not comment about the report, which was originally published on Friday when the U.S. markets were closed.
The dividend scuttlebutt helped lift shares of Microsoft (MSFT: Research, Estimates) 3.6 percent in early afternoon trading on Monday. But it is also sparking debate about whether Microsoft, one of the best performing stocks of the 1990s and the world's largest company measured by stock market worth, should still be considered a true growth company. "
http://money.cnn.com/2003/07/07/technology/microsoft/
Whoa! Ten billion to just decide where to spend. So what would you want MS to do with that money floating around?
For gaming:
A.)Every Xbox could be marked down to $99 worldwide and hope that the increase in software sales offsets the loss on hardware. b.)They could easily go on a aquisition hunt and snap up some more talent....Activision is on quite a roll recently...
On a completely different note:
Or, they could build a theme park.....the cost of Universal's IOA, Disney CA Adventure, and Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom together total about 4-5 billion. Side fact, Bill Gates is a stockholder in Six Flags Inc. And if you happen to visit any of the Six Flags parks, imagine what a massive cash infusion could bring to the parks. Although this would never happen, MS could invest heavily in the Six Flags parks (say, 4 of them across the country), and raise several of the parks around the country to higher standards (visually like IOA). That way, MS would have a tangible asset that would generate income, much in the same way Disney's parks have kept the company stable whenever the film/tv projects fail.
Wall Street debates whether a rumored special dividend is the best use of Microsoft's cash.
July 7, 2003: 2:43 PM EDT
By Paul R. La Monica, CNN/Money Senior Writer
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Forget about Pepsi and its paltry "Play for a Billion" game. Rumor has it that Microsoft is considering giving away at least $10 billion of its massive $46 billion cash horde.
According to a report by a sister publication of the Financial Times, Microsoft is said to be mulling a special dividend of more than $10 billion to existing shareholders. A spokeswoman for Microsoft would not comment about the report, which was originally published on Friday when the U.S. markets were closed.
The dividend scuttlebutt helped lift shares of Microsoft (MSFT: Research, Estimates) 3.6 percent in early afternoon trading on Monday. But it is also sparking debate about whether Microsoft, one of the best performing stocks of the 1990s and the world's largest company measured by stock market worth, should still be considered a true growth company. "
http://money.cnn.com/2003/07/07/technology/microsoft/
Whoa! Ten billion to just decide where to spend. So what would you want MS to do with that money floating around?
For gaming:
A.)Every Xbox could be marked down to $99 worldwide and hope that the increase in software sales offsets the loss on hardware. b.)They could easily go on a aquisition hunt and snap up some more talent....Activision is on quite a roll recently...
On a completely different note:
Or, they could build a theme park.....the cost of Universal's IOA, Disney CA Adventure, and Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom together total about 4-5 billion. Side fact, Bill Gates is a stockholder in Six Flags Inc. And if you happen to visit any of the Six Flags parks, imagine what a massive cash infusion could bring to the parks. Although this would never happen, MS could invest heavily in the Six Flags parks (say, 4 of them across the country), and raise several of the parks around the country to higher standards (visually like IOA). That way, MS would have a tangible asset that would generate income, much in the same way Disney's parks have kept the company stable whenever the film/tv projects fail.