The corporate tax structure was different back then as well. Much higher tax rates and it was far more difficult to simply ship your profits off to another more tax-advantaged nation. If the choice is spend the money hoping to find the next great innovation or hand it to your government and hope they do something productive with it, companies are usually going to choose the former.
Today, you can license your profits to Ireland or some other off-shore holding company and never have to choose.
Today, you can license your profits to Ireland or some other off-shore holding company and never have to choose.