Microsoft Ups Dividend

Microsoft Corp.

today announced that its board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.16 per share, reflecting a 3 cent or 23 percent increase over the previous quarter's dividend. The dividend is payable December 9, 2010 to shareholders of record on November 18, 2010. The ex-dividend date will be November 16, 2010. "This higher dividend, combined with our ongoing share repurchase program, reflects our commitment to returning capital to our shareholders and our confidence in the long-term growth of the company," said Peter Klein, chief financial officer of Microsoft. For the ten years ending June 30, 2010, Microsoft has returned nearly $170 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. Under the most recent share repurchase plan approved by the Microsoft board in September 2008, the company has approximately $23.7 billion in share repurchase authorization remaining as of June 30, 2010. Microsoft also announced that its board of directors authorized up to $6 billion in incremental commercial paper and longer-term debt.