Does he think Microsoft is close to peak valuation or that the markets are frothy?<p>Or maybe he just wants to diversify or buy personal toys and real estate.<p>He still has about $300 million in shares.<p>There also seems to be a potential tax element to it:<p>“Satya sold approximately 840,000 shares of his holdings of Microsoft stock for personal financial planning and diversification reasons,” a Microsoft spokesman said in a written statement. “He is committed to the continued success of the company and his holdings significantly exceed the holding requirements set by the Microsoft Board of Directors.”<p>Analysts said the move could be related to Washington state instituting a 7% tax for long-term capital gains beginning at the start of next year for anything exceeding $250,000 a year.
In most cases where I have been given company stocks as part of compensation, I usually sell them as soon as I can. Depending on your role in the company you are often very restricted about how much you can sell and when. There are limited trading windows where you can legally sell and any inside information may prevent it even then. I’d rather have my money in some other stock where I have more freedom to trade.
Gave this advice to people in successful startups: if you had $X million, would you sink it all into one company? If the answer is no, you should diversify.