2004-7-29
This is Bob Doughty with the VOA Special English Economics
Report.
Investors take a risk when they buy shares of ownership in a
company. Shareholders could lose their investment if the company
does not have enough money. But what happens if a company has more
money than it needs? Both situations have current examples. One
involves the Russian oil company Yukos. The other involves
Microsoft.
The American company makes the operating systems used on more
than ninety percent of personal computers. It has fifty-six thousand
million dollars saved in the bank. The company has been under
pressure to return some of that money to its investors.
So last week Microsoft announced a plan to make a one-time
payment to its shareholders of three dollars per share. Microsoft
will pay out thirty-two thousand million dollars. This will be the
largest such payout by any company.
The largest shareholder in Microsoft is its chairman, Bill Gates.
He will get three thousand million dollars. He has promised to give
that to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support its health
and education programs. He is already the richest man in the world.
Microsoft also plans to increase it regular dividend payments to
shareholders. And it says it will buy back thirty thousand million
dollars of its stock over the next four years. The stock price has
not changed much in the last few years. A reduction in shares on the
market should increase the value for investors.
But there was more bad news this week for investors in Russia's
biggest oil company. Share prices fell after reports of a possible
production halt linked to efforts by court officers to collect a
huge debt. Oil prices rose. Yukos produces two percent of the
world's oil.
The Russian government says the company owes as much as ten
thousand-million dollars in taxes. The government has threatened to
sell the most productive part of Yukos.
Yukos officials are also in trouble. The biggest shareholder,
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, is in jail. Supporters say charges of
financial crimes are part of a government campaign against him.
Mister Khodorkovsky is Russia's richest man. He could face a
possible sentence of ten years in prison.
Last Friday, a group of investors based in Britain offered to pay
the debts of Yukos. The group is seeking control of the company.
Yukos shares are traded in Britain, Germany, Russia and the United
States.
This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by Mario
Ritter. This is Bob Doughty.