Ballmer’s Worth Billions, and he’s Cashing in his Stock
Ballmer’s Worth Billions, and he’s Cashing in his Stock
Posted 11/06/2010 at 10:52am
| by Justin Kerr
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Steve Ballmer might look like Joe Everyman on the outside, but under that sweat stained exterior is a billionaire in disguise, and according to Reuters he’s cashing out. The CEO has apparently confirmed reports that he has sold 49.3 million shares of Microsoft stock worth an estimated $1.3 billion, a move that some feel might be motivated by the end of Bush-era tax cuts on capital gains.
According to Ballmer investors shouldn’t read too heavily into the decision to sell off shares, and it was done purely for personal financial reasons. At current prices Ballmer is sitting on about $10 billion in company stock, so despite the poor optics of a CEO selling off a large pool of shares, we suspect the temptation of all that non-liquid cash simply became too much. When you consider that his 2009 bonus was a mere $670,000 as a result of poor performance in the mobile and tablet market, it would make sense that he would want to supplement his income somehow.
Despite the sale Ballmer will remain one of the top shareholders in the company with a 4 percent stake, second only to Bill Gates who holds 7 percent. I guess with Windows Phone 7 and Kinect now on the market Ballmer just needed a bit of extra pocket change before he heads over to his local Best Buy.
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Links of London
December 08, 2010 at 9:51pm
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stradric
November 09, 2010 at 6:36am
Look at how ridiculous 1.3 billion dollars is for one person. You could spend $1 million / day for over 3 years and still have a few hundred million dollars left over. Or, you could live on $1 million / year for 1300 years. That means you and more than 13 generations of your family could all live like kings. Multiply that by 40 and you have Bill Gates.
To me, that's pretty disgusting. And the fact that Ballmer is trying to avoid a tax cut on capital gains shows his greedy character. But greed has become a societal norm and some even praise the practice (as seen in the comments here). I think Ballmer is a douche and this pretty much confirms it in my eyes.
TechLarry
November 08, 2010 at 11:55am
He can bank billions, and still have billions in stock. Why the hell not? To do otherwise would be foolhearty.
I can't stand the guy (any more than I can Jobs), but damn. The dude's got some scratch.
stradric
November 09, 2010 at 6:47am
So you're saying that it's cool for a guy to cash in stock and pay 15% tax for doing absolutely nothing? Meanwhile working people pay 30+% tax on their meager income. You think it's "foolhearty" to pay one's fair share? Ballmer and everyone should be paying 70-90% on capital gains as to encourage business owners to keep wealth in the business rather than create obscene personal wealth. Of course that would make all the hedge fund managers that own our politicians quite angry.
Sure, it's foolhearty if you're a greedy douchebag. But if you actually want to show that you're a contributing member to a free society, you should pay your share.
johnnyathm1
November 08, 2010 at 12:35am
Your spam filter sucks! All the admins should just comit ritual suicide in regards to the shame that they hold. I cant believe that this magazine is hosted on a web sight that just doesnt care about these things...very disappointing indeed. MPC...its time to change house.
Bullwinkle J Moose
November 07, 2010 at 12:37pm
If money was all these guys were after....they would open up XP and Windows 7 as open source platforms.
Their copyrights would still be valid and they could still drag everyone into court as they do now, but their customers would be able to fix what Microsoft never does and see that there is no Gov't spyware inside...
Oh wait, thats the problem isn't it?
Open it up boys
Prove to us that it's not a spyware platform and that it's not completely based on other peoples code that was stolen by Microsoft and I will honor your licensing agreement
Untill then, your licence is null and void!
Period
The end
Keith E. Whisman
November 07, 2010 at 5:44pm
Although that would be awesome, if enough people installed open source Windows, the virus writers would target it and do it well because they would have the source code to find a locate vulnerabilities. So popularity is an OS worse enemy.
aaronj2906
November 07, 2010 at 11:25am
"might be motivated by the end of Bush-era tax cuts"
This is just a front and center visible instance of what the fat cats will do.
Mighty BOB!
November 07, 2010 at 1:46pm
Those are actually some pretty nice ASCII houses in that spam post. A little messed up by the spacing though.
baker269
November 06, 2010 at 11:10pm
Sounds like he has a tough life, only making $670,000 for his bonus. Maybe after cashing in that 1.3 billion in stock he can move out of that cardboard box i'm sure he's living in. I think i'll send him a few billion for christmas.
Metalmorphasis
November 06, 2010 at 8:56pm
Your in the news,what can I say?
At least there not talking about S. Jobs for once!
I Jedi
November 06, 2010 at 8:31pm
Honestly, why the fuck come on here and spam? Do you really believe anyone here is going to give two shits to copy and paste that shitty ass domain name into their URL? Gtfo, and quit spamming on a good website, you pos. So fucking sick of free loaders trying to get free advertisement on here.
harbingercmt
November 07, 2010 at 9:27am
...with Jedi on these spam ass-holes. I hope someone, with way more computer knowledge than I, tracks these fuck-tards down and sodomizes them with a faulty laptop power brick, while simultaneously shoving dog shit down there throats. GD spamers!
Max PC, I don't know if you guys can do anything about the spam on your end? I don't want to see it go back to where you couldn't even leave a comment, but there has to be something that can be done. You guys rock otherwise. I've been a loyal subscriber since '96...OMG, am I that old? Excuse me, I need to go take my fiber :-)
harbingercmt
November 06, 2010 at 6:15pm
All the smart money is getting out. He will probably sell the rest of his shares in similar amounts before the year is out. - This is not a reflection on Microsoft's future prospects.
Keith E. Whisman
November 06, 2010 at 2:44pm
With 1.3 Really large, Steve ought to be able to purchase himself a nice little chain of Best Buy franchise stores if you can do that kind of thing.
B.A.Frayd
November 06, 2010 at 1:33pm
The market is overvalued and he is cashing in before it collapses. Smart move.
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