[Am-info] Gates Selling 1M (Of His 661M) Microsoft Shares

[Paul Rickard]

========== On 2002.06.21 02:42 PM, Fred A. Miller typed: ============

>Gates Selling 1M (Of His 661M) Microsoft Shares
>
>Is Bill Gates worried about the outcome of Microsoft's antitrust 
>case? As lawyers for Microsoft and nine states were wrapping up 
>final arguments in the latest chapter of the tussle Wednesday, 
>Gates was telling the Securities and Exchange Commission he'll 
>dump 1 million Microsoft shares within three months. The block of 
>shares is valued at $49.5 million.

    This happens about three times a year. Everyone always panics and 
says Gates is selling out, but you have to remember that the man is 
essentially paid in stock. Gates makes approximately $650,000 a year in 
straight pay (at last check), which is barely enough to pay the property 
tax on his house and get a hamburger at Wendy's. (King County WA. 
appraised the 40,000 foot house at $53 million in 1997 and sent him a 
bill, which he contested, for $600,000.) Microsoft gives him a truckload 
of stock options so he and the company can hide from the IRS, then he has 
to sell that stock regularly to keep gas in the jet and food on his 
100-seat reception hall table. The man has two (soon to be three) kids, 
two "charitable foundations," and two cash-starved sattelite telephone 
companies to support, so we can't expect him to survive on just his 
mid-six-figure salary.


======== Paul Rickard, Editor of The Microsoft Boycott Campaign =======
--------------------------------[ Http://www.msboycott.com ]-----------

  "Microsoft is now talking about the digital nervous system. I guess I
   would be nervous if my system was built on their technology, too."
       -Sun Microsystems President Scott McNealy