Microsoft Announces Quarterly Dividend and Changes to Board of Directors

Microsoft announced that its board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, reflecting a 3 cent or 7.6 percent increase over the previous quarter’s dividend. It is payable Dec. 14 to shareholders of record on Nov. 16.

The company also announced the date for the annual shareholders meeting, to be held Nov. 29. Shareholders at the close of business on Sept. 29, the record date, will be entitled to vote at the annual shareholders meeting.

In addition, the company announced the appointment of Hugh Johnston, vice chairman and chief financial officer of PepsiCo, to its board of directors and to the board’s audit committee, effective immediately. Johnston brings experience through his nearly 30-year history at PepsiCo, the global food and beverage company whose product portfolio includes 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.

Johnston, 56, has served as the chief financial officer since 2010 and became vice chairman in 2015. In his career at PepsiCo, he has served as executive vice president of global operations, president of Pepsi-Cola North America, senior vice president of transformation, and senior vice president of mergers and acquisitions.

Johnston has previously served as a director and audit committee chair for Twitter and AOL. He currently serves as a director for the Peterson Institute for International Economics, on the University of Chicago’s Booth School CFO Advisory Board, and on Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management Advisory council. Adding Johnston increases Microsoft’s board to 13 members.

Microsoft also announced that G. Mason Morfit, president and chief investment officer of ValueAct Capital, will not seek re-election to the board. His current term expires at the annual shareholders meeting in November.