Oil company to knock Microsoft off pedestal Vole to become world's number twoBy Nick Farrell: Wednesday 10 May 2006, 06:39 MICROSOFT is set to lose the title of the world's cash richest company, according to the Wall Street Journal.Thanks to soaring oil prices a little known outfit called Exxon has developed such a huge pile of cash that it will soon be mean that it has tthe largest cash piles belonging to a nonfinancial company.Exxon's total cash hit $31.9 billion at the end of March, according to figures filed late last week with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That puts Exxon within reach of Microsoft's cash and short-term investments of $34.8 billion at the end of March. The WSJ points out that although a $3 billion cash gap remains between Exxon and Vole, the petrol company is producing more cash at a faster pace and could eclipse Microsoft's by July.To be fair to the Vole, Microsoft's cash stockpile was reduced in 2004 pwhen it paid out a record $32 billion special dividend.
