Microsoft's financial risks paying off

Microsoft's financial risks paying off "John Connors' willingness to take a risk with Microsoft Corp.'s $56.4 billion in cash is paying off.
Microsoft's 45-year-old chief financial officer has generated a 7.3 percent average annual return on investments in the past three years. The gain is almost triple that produced by companies with more than $1 billion in sales, according to Chicago-based consulting firm Treasury Strategies Inc.
Microsoft, with more cash than any U.S. non-finance company, has performed "pretty darned well" by investing more in stocks and bonds with lower credit ratings, Connors said in an interview. Apple Computer Inc. and Intel Corp. keep most of their cash in money market instruments."