Do you think he knows something he's not telling anyone??
Microsoft says Gates selling stock to diversify
WASHINGTON, May 6 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O) chief executive Bill Gates has sold more than 7 million Microsoft shares for more than $600 million in a move to diversify his portfolio, Microsoft said Thursday.
He also plans to sell three million more shares, which would get him about $260 million, an SEC filing showed.
Gates, considered the world's richest man, unloaded a total of six million shares on April 23 and 26, according to recent filings he made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Prior to those sales, he disposed of 1.35 million shares on January 26, the documents showed.
A Microsoft spokesman said that Gates was selling the shares for routine portfolio diversification, the same reason cited by the company when Gates has sold Microsoft shares in the past.
''This is part of Bill's normal programme of selling done for purposes of diversification of his portfolio,'' spokesman Tom Pilla said.
In addition, two Gates foundations -- the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation -- collectively sold 52 million Microsoft shares from January 27 through February 22 for about $4.3 billion.
Gates established the William H. Gates Foundation about four years ago to focus on world health, population and education issues. The other foundation helps libraries in poor areas gain access to computer equipment and the Internet.
The 43-year-old Gates, who has been making his mark as a philanthropist with huge financial donations, has said he plans to give away most of his vast fortune before he dies.
His Microsoft stake alone, nearly one billion shares, is worth some $79 billion. |
