Microsoft Declares Quarterly Dividend and Appoints New Lead Independent Director

REDMOND, Wash. — December 15, 2010 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that its board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.16 per share. The dividend is payable March 10, 2011 to shareholders of record on February 17, 2011. The ex-dividend date will be February 15, 2011.

Microsoft also announced that the independent members of its board of directors appointed Reed Hastings, founder, chairman and CEO of Netflix Inc., as the board’s lead independent director. Raymond V. Gilmartin, former chairman, president and chief executive officer of Merck & Co. Inc., has served as the lead independent director since 2004.

The company also outlined two new committee assignments for the board. Maria M. Klawe is joining the Compensation Committee and Reed Hastings is joining the Governance and Nominating Committee. The board has five committees, each composed of independent directors: Audit, Compensation, Governance and Nominating, Finance, and Antitrust Compliance. Under the new committee structure, the Audit Committee members are Dina Dublon, Charles H. Noski (chairperson) and Helmut Panke. The Compensation Committee members are Dina Dublon (chairperson), Reed Hastings, Maria M. Klawe and Helmut Panke. The Governance and Nominating Committee members are Raymond V. Gilmartin (chairperson), Reed Hastings, and David F. Marquardt. The Finance Committee members are Reed Hastings and David F. Marquardt (chairperson). The Antitrust Compliance Committee members are Raymond V. Gilmartin, Maria M. Klawe and Helmut Panke (chairperson).

Beginning with its first-quarter fiscal year 2011 results released on October 28, the company began posting its quarterly earnings on its investor relations Web site and not via newswire. Anyone wishing to obtain this information as the company releases it, as well as other announcements, SEC filings, events, and webcasts, can sign up for email alerts and RSS feeds the Microsoft investor relations Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/investor.

Microsoft makes available at its investor relations Web site a variety of information for investors, analysts and media. The company’s goal is to maintain the investor relations Web site as the authoritative portal through which visitors can easily find information, including:

  • the annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and any amendments to those reports, as soon as reasonably practicable after that material is electronically filed or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”);

  • information on business strategies, financial results, and key performance indicators;

  • announcements of investor conferences, speeches, and events at which company executives talk about our product, service, and competitive strategies (including archives of past events);

  • results of quarterly earnings and dividend announcements:

  • product and service announcements, legal developments, and international news;

  • corporate governance information including our articles, bylaws, governance guidelines, committee charters, codes of conduct and ethics, global corporate citizenship initiatives, and other governance-related policies; and

  • other news and announcements that we may post from time to time that investors might find useful or interesting.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

For more information, financial analysts and investors only:

Investor Relations, Microsoft, (425) 706-3703

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links titles were correct at time of publication, but may since have changed. Shareholder and financial information is available at http://www.microsoft.com/investor.

Related Posts