Bill Gates owns a very significant amount of Microsoft stock.
Since when is $11.3 billion held by one person in one company, not a lot? It's one of the largest single positions held by any person on the planet in a given company. That position is so large, by itself it would nearly qualify a person into the top 100 richest list globally.
Top Microsoft mutual fund position: Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund, 155 million shares.
Bill Gates: 167 million shares.
He'd be the seventh largest institutional holder in Microsoft - a $528 billion company.
It depends how you define significant. Gates has been selling stock and has reduced his shareholding from at least 45% to around 2.5%. While $11.3bn would be a lot for most people, I imagine things look different when you're worth $86bn to $90bn ;-)
Incidentally, Yahoo Finance reckons The Vanguard Group owns 525,395,707 Microsoft shares. The Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund is just one of its funds.
YF doesn't mention Ballmer so presumably he sold off his 333 million shares without it making news. It's a while since I looked....
Since when is $11.3 billion held by one person in one company, not a lot? It's one of the largest single positions held by any person on the planet in a given company. That position is so large, by itself it would nearly qualify a person into the top 100 richest list globally.
Top Microsoft mutual fund position: Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund, 155 million shares.
Bill Gates: 167 million shares.
He'd be the seventh largest institutional holder in Microsoft - a $528 billion company.