Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, recentlydumped off half of his stake in the company which was worth almost $300million. As revealed by an SEC filing, Nadella sold 840,000 shares for theprice of over $285 million.
A Microsoft spokesman said in a writtenstatement to the Wall Street Journal, “Satya sold approximately 840,000 sharesof his holdings of Microsoft stock for personal financial planning anddiversification reasons. He is committed to the continued success of thecompany and his holdings significantly exceed the holding requirements set by theMicrosoft Board of Directors.”
The shares were sold in a price range from$334.37 to $349.22, bringing his total share count to 831K shares.
It was done in advance as Washington State isgoing to implement a controversial new capital gains tax. The new lawpassed in April, primarily targets stock and business ownership sales with a 7%tax on long-term capital gains of more than $250,000.
It is the first such tax in state history,will come in effect from Jan 1, 2022.
As per the Wall Street Journal, this newWashington State’s new capital gain tax will raise nearly $550 million annuallyin fiscal year 2023 contributing majority of its funds towards early educationand child care.
According to the article by The Hill,Nadella was first named CEO in February of 2014 after holding leadership rolesin both consumer and enterprise businesses across the company. Ever sincetaking over the company's helm, the Journal reported that the company traded ata massive $2.53 trillion market capitalization which is up about 780% eversince his appointment as CEO of Microsoft.