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Here comes the Obama Effect – Steve Ballmer cashes in $1.3 billion before year-end

By: ashland_avenue (Diary)  |  November 6th, 2010 at 12:02 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

From the WSJ:

Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer sold $1.34 billion of Microsoft shares in recent days, his first share sales in the company since 2003.

In a statement, the Redmond, Wash., software company said Mr. Ballmer sold the shares for financial diversification and “to assist in tax planning” before the end of the calendar year

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704353504575597102844299096.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection#ixzz14TGxMBRb

With long term capital gains rates scheduled to go up sharply Jan 1, it was only prudent for the sale to be made this year.
Just imagine, however, how few and far between sales of this sort will become next year if tax rates on the wealthy are allowed to jump.  A fearless prediction:  although rates may go up, tax collections will go down.

COMMENTS

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  • http://www.redstate.com/etcartman Kenny Solomon

    Guessing that’s a bit of an attention-getter too.

    SEC website link to the filing document:

    http://sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/789019/000122520810024264/xslF345X03/doc4.xml

    Article from DailyFinance.com

    Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), sold 2 million shares in the company.

    Gates sold the shares in the open market on Nov. 2 at an average price of $27.23, according to an SEC filing. The transaction left Gates with 618,973,551 shares in Microsoft.

    Some folks have no problem with taxes being raised or paid…… unless their the one’s gettin’ the invoice.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908
  • 6eorge Jetson

    Another Apple exec cashes in: $44M for Johnson

    My first reaction to Ballmer’s sale was a thought that this might be cover for Ballmer to offload some shares–he just lost another exec as Microsoft Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie announced his plans to leave.

    But Apple is on fire…

  • ashland_avenue

    It was a compliance guy who wrote the SEC filing. Sometimes things mean exactly what they say,

    These sales, and these filings, should be Exhibit No. 1 when debate opens re maintaining current income and cap gains tax rates.

  • ashland_avenue

    nt

  • http://www.redstate.com/etcartman Kenny Solomon

    Another ‘attention getter’.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6A51FB20101106

    Barry Diller, the former chairman of Live Nation Entertainment (LYV.N), sold 2.53 million shares in the company, according to a government filing.

    In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, Live Nation said Diller, the chief executive of IAC/Interactive Corp (IACI.O), still owns 10.4 millions shares of Live Nation.

    Diller sold the shares for $9.62 each, making the total sale worth $24.3 million.

    Nothing to see here !