Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt, Inc.

Wall St. Journal, Wed, Jan 2, 2002
"Then there is Microsoft, sitting atop $36 billion in cash and short term securities"... "the company is generating about $1 billion in free cash flow a month, meaning it could have $48 billion in cash in a year"..."Microsoft is an enviable cash machine - and that has some investors and analysts urging Microsoft to stop hoarding its pennies and give more of them back to shareholders"..."The $36 billion on hand at Microsoft as of Sept 30, the latestest figure available, far surpasses the cash on the balance sheet of any other U.S. corporation"..."GE counts about $8.8 billion in cash and equivanlents, while International Business Machines has just over $4 billion"... "These days, Microsoft is more or less "stamping out [software CDs} at two cents a disc"... "90% gross margins"..."The interest and dividends earned on Microsoft's cash pile now represent about 19% of operating income"...

"Microsoft, at least, likely has more than enough cash to fund stock buybacks, research and development and a host of other programs - and still have billions left over"

So, what are they going to do with this money, are they going to build a better mouse trap? Not likely, cause the one they have now is working just fine!

Irony is that Bush's anti-trust group just attempted to settle Microsoft case with what amounts to less than a hand slap... (there is not a politican alive that does not look at this money and think of how many political campaigns they could run with just a part of it placed here and there in a soft money sort of way)! Only a few of the states are holding out on settling.

Q: If the Linux community had as much money... would we see a more secure product from them... and would it be fairly priced?

Maybe - any settlement with Microsoft should require that a trust fund be set up with some of Microsoft's billions to fund open source development of secure solutions...
EX: SELinux, Cyclone-like C, etc... THAT would help us all more than anything else!

[ reply ]

Link to this comment: http://www.securityfocus.com/comments/columns/50/9687#9687

A lesson in... Comprehend this: MS has 36+Billion in Liquidity (4x next on list) 2002-01-16
Anonymous

No worm? Tim, lay off the meds 2002-01-02
Anonymous

No worm? Tim, lay off the meds, or maybe you should take more ... 2002-01-02
Anonymous

No worm? Tim, lay off the meds 2002-01-02
Anonymous

Anon posting, was => No worm? Tim, lay off the meds 2002-01-03
keydet89@yahoo.com (1 replies)

Anon posting, was => No worm? Tim, lay off the meds 2002-01-04
Anonymous

A great article, but ... 2002-01-13
Der HexXer (@gmx.net)

In your bias opinion. 2002-01-01
Carnivore Knows

Actually, it's 3 vulnerabilities associated with the hole 2002-01-01
Anonymous

Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt, Inc. 2002-01-01
Mike Bunyard

Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt, Inc. 2002-01-01
Anonymous

Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt, Inc. 2002-01-02
Nai Rolf