I said "mature." There are companies other than high tech. The presumption was always "high tech companies have so many opportunities to reinvest their profits

I said "mature." There are companies other than high tech. The presumption was always "high tech companies have so many opportunities to reinvest their profits, they shouldn't pay any dividends." If that's really true, then they shouldn't. However, if they can't use the money effectively, then the dividend is the responsible option. Even a one-time payout, like https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/21/business/technology-microsoft-to-pay-special-dividend-to-stockholders.html https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/21/business/technology-micro.... It does seem clear that MZ can't be trusted with all that cash.