That 1998 article is the first I'd seen claiming that the 1997 deal was a repayment, versus a purchase of non-voting shares as described at the time and announc

That 1998 article is the first I'd seen claiming that the 1997 deal was a repayment, versus a purchase of non-voting shares as described at the time and announced by Jobs and Gates at Macworld. https://www.wired.com/1997/08/apple-takes-150-million-from-microsoft/ https://www.wired.com/1997/08/apple-takes-150-million-from-m... The register article quotes a note saying there was a significant MS payment for QT specifically, but doesn't actually claim that the 1997 investment wasn't an investment, as far as I can tell. Saving, of course, was always an exaggeration, as reported in that Wired article from the time too: "For Apple, the cash is symbolic. While the company has been bleeding money, it has about $1.2 billion in cash, according to its last quarterly earnings report, and doesn't need Microsoft's money to fend off immediate starvation." Recommitting to Office was a much bigger thing than the cash, probably,