This isnt what I asked at all.<p>If MSFT has BILLIONS in the bank - why do they literally sit on the money instead of investing heavily in GOOG when GOOG is born?<p>I am not saying a company should give the money they have in the bank back to their shareholders to invest - I am saying why dont they actively invest in startups VERY AGGRESSIVELY as opposed to sitting on the money entirely.<p>Also, I am literally only talking about one industry - tech - so I am expecting that those that are in tech beget tech startups....