5 ms·

I agree. The article explains exactly that in the second sentence: "Gates […] has sold 20 million shares each quarter for most of the last dozen years under a

by pflats 12y ago

I agree. The article explains exactly that in the second sentence: "Gates […] has sold 20 million shares each quarter for most of the last dozen years under a pre-set trading plan." This isn't a former CEO getting out while the getting's good, this is a guy who's been consistently diversifying his portfolio for over a decade. Either he thought MSFT was a bad long-term investment back in 2002 (which seems unlikely; Windows XP just hit the market doing gangbusters) or he thought that having the entirety of his fortune tied up in a single company is dangerous. He still has 330 million shares in MSFT. At around $40/share, that's still $13 billion. If he sells 300 million more shares (91% of his remaining holdings), he'll still have around a billion bucks invested in Microsoft. He's a rich dude, but it's still a billion dollars! He also has the advantage of being Bill Gates. Barring any catastrophic mistake on his part, he'll always be able to influence Microsoft, even if he isn't anywhere near their biggest shareholder.

webreac 12y ago
One day, MSFT will become a bad long-term investment. Selling regurlarly is a good way to disengage without triggering any panic among shareholders. I do not like the man, but Bill Gates has always been very clever for business. BTW, I wish the best to Satya Nadella.
- philliphaydon 12y ago
  In 2014, how can you not like Bill Gates. He's a far better person than Steve Jobs ever was. He's making the world a better place.
  - culturestate 12y ago
    This is such a tired meme. They both made bad choices and were both, at various points in time, equally reviled. Gates has simply had the time and inclination to rehabilitate his image in public through an impressive array of charitable works - we don't need to continuously harp on Jobs just because he's dead now and will never have that chance.
  - webreac 12y ago
    I have finished my studies in 1993. I have seen all the innovation between 1982 and 1990 (Commodore, Amstrad, Oric, ZX, Turbo Pascal, ...) and how Bill Gates has killed software I was using (Stacker, dr dos, gem, ...). I think he has contributed to slow down innovation by his monopolistic tactics (windows undocumented, ...). Microsoft bad behaviour has been clearly demonstrated in trials. I think that the current wave of innovation does not owe anything to Microsoft. Now, he may be another man, I do not know, but I know what he did to computer science.

by pflats 12y ago

webreac 12y ago

One day, MSFT will become a bad long-term investment. Selling regurlarly is a good way to disengage without triggering any panic among shareholders. I do not like the man, but Bill Gates has always been very clever for business. BTW, I wish the best to Satya Nadella.

philliphaydon 12y ago
In 2014, how can you not like Bill Gates. He's a far better person than Steve Jobs ever was. He's making the world a better place.
- culturestate 12y ago
  This is such a tired meme. They both made bad choices and were both, at various points in time, equally reviled. Gates has simply had the time and inclination to rehabilitate his image in public through an impressive array of charitable works - we don't need to continuously harp on Jobs just because he's dead now and will never have that chance.
- webreac 12y ago
  I have finished my studies in 1993. I have seen all the innovation between 1982 and 1990 (Commodore, Amstrad, Oric, ZX, Turbo Pascal, ...) and how Bill Gates has killed software I was using (Stacker, dr dos, gem, ...). I think he has contributed to slow down innovation by his monopolistic tactics (windows undocumented, ...). Microsoft bad behaviour has been clearly demonstrated in trials. I think that the current wave of innovation does not owe anything to Microsoft. Now, he may be another man, I do not know, but I know what he did to computer science.