Bloomberg - - Microsoft Corp., the world's largest software maker, created President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith as Vice Chair and announced a new stock-repurchase program of as much as $60 billion.
Smith, who joined Microsoft in 1993, will continue to report on Satya Nadella, the Redmond, Washington-based company said Wednesday in a statement. Microsoft further raised its quarterly dividend by 6 cents to 62 cents a share.
The repurchase authorization has no expiration date and may be terminated at any time. Company's stock has increased in 2021 by 35% and its market capitalisation is more than $2.2 trillion, making it the second-most valuable publicly traded company. Microsoft s previous buyback plan, unveiled in September 2018, was for $40 billion.
According to Bloomberg, the company had $130.3 billion in cash and equivalents at the end of June.