[HN Gopher] Satya Nadella Sells Half of His Shares in Microsoft
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       Satya Nadella Sells Half of His Shares in Microsoft
        
       Author : gotmedium
       Score  : 26 points
       Date   : 2021-11-29 20:03 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.wsj.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.wsj.com)
        
       | 1cvmask wrote:
       | Does he think Microsoft is close to peak valuation or that the
       | markets are frothy?
       | 
       | Or maybe he just wants to diversify or buy personal toys and real
       | estate.
       | 
       | He still has about $300 million in shares.
       | 
       | There also seems to be a potential tax element to it:
       | 
       | "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."
       | 
       | 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.
        
         | Finnucane wrote:
         | Does it really matter? No matter what, extremely wealthy guy
         | will still be extremely wealthy guy.
        
           | jdsully wrote:
           | It matters if your a MSFT shareholder and are wondering if
           | you should "diversify" too.
        
             | seanmcdirmid wrote:
             | > It matters if your a MSFT shareholder and are wondering
             | if you should "diversify" too.
             | 
             | The answer to that question is yes, regardless of what
             | Nadella does/did. I guess if you have a feeling MSFT is
             | going to outperform the tech market or market as a whole,
             | not diversifying can work, or if you lack the ability to
             | hedge much and want a chance to get rich (and a chance to
             | lose it also).
        
               | jdsully wrote:
               | You might have that feeling, but reconsider with the new
               | information about insider selling. Insider trades do
               | correlate to investment performance.
        
         | servytor wrote:
         | I wouldn't short Microsoft with the promise of Windows
         | Continuum and Windows 365.
         | 
         | I mean in my opinion, Microsoft chose to fail in competing with
         | a smartphone OS because there would be an antitrust lawsuit.
        
       | 1cvmask wrote:
       | https://archive.md/iwqZd
        
       | Tagbert wrote:
       | 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.
        
         | irrational wrote:
         | Same here. I receive stock twice a year. I always sell it that
         | same day.
        
           | chrisjc wrote:
           | Curious why you sell right away? No faith in your company or
           | is there another reason I'm missing?
        
             | rjbwork wrote:
             | Diversification. If you consider that your employment at an
             | employer is one part of your investment strategy, then it
             | makes sense to diversify your portfolio as much as
             | possible. Keeping those eggs in the same basket presents
             | increased firm-specific risk .
        
             | jamiepenney wrote:
             | I've done this in previous jobs - nothing to do with the
             | company itself, I just don't like tying both my investment
             | and wage income to the same company.
        
             | shric wrote:
             | Ask yourself "if I was given the equivalent in cash instead
             | of equity (e.g. a bonus or just an increased base), would I
             | buy shares in my employers' company?"
             | 
             | If the answer is no, then it makes sense to sell
             | immediately.
        
         | barrkel wrote:
         | If you're restricted in trading for insider information
         | reasons, you're often also restricted in trading other industry
         | stocks for conflict of interest reasons.
         | 
         | Not a bad thing to diversify, but of you diversify to e.g. an
         | index fund, often you end up correlated with tech owing to how
         | large a chunk of index growth is down to Apple, Google, Amazon
         | etc.
        
         | MR4D wrote:
         | These aren't options.
         | 
         | Also, if you ran the second biggest company on the planet, your
         | investors would hate you for that behavior.
        
       | moneywoes wrote:
       | He saved roughly 21 million by doing this prior to the capital
       | gain tax coming to WA. Any word on whether the legal challenge
       | has held up?
        
       | JoeAltmaier wrote:
       | 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.
        
       | throwawaymanbot wrote:
       | I guess hell use this money to spend in the new "Pay for dealz"
       | browser they are about to launch. NICE!
        
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       (page generated 2021-11-29 23:02 UTC)