Microsoft CEO Nadella sells off nearly $300 million in shares of the company

The Hill
·2 min read
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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has sold half of his shares in the tech giant, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a federal securities filing.

The report said that Nadella sold 838,584 shares over two days between Nov. 22 and Nov. 23 for more than $285 million. He retained ownership of 831,000 shares following that transaction.

Nadella disclosed the sale in an SEC filing.

"Satya sold approximately 840,000 shares of his holdings of Microsoft stock for personal financial planning and diversification reasons. 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," a Microsoft spokesman said in a written statement to the Journal.

However the Journal reported Nadella could have sold his shares due to a Washington state law, approved to begin in 2022, that would impose a 7 percent tax on long-term capital gains over $250,000.

Microsoft did not immediately respond to The Hill's request for comment.

Nadella was named CEO in February 2014, and previously held leadership roles in both enterprise and consumer businesses across the company. Since taking over at the helm of the company, the Journal noted that the company is trading at a $2.53 trillion market capitalization, up about 780 percent since he was appointed CEO.

Last month Microsoft Corp. overtook Apple Inc. for the first time in 16 months as the most valuable U.S. company, according to Market Watch.

Microsoft exceeded expectations in its fiscal first quarter, having its fastest growth since 2018. Nadella was among a group of leaders from a wide spectrum of tech companies and organizations that met with President Biden at the White House in August to address cyber security threats.

Nadella's stock sale follows a similar one by Tesla CEO Elon Musk who sold more than 930,000 shares of Tesla stock, according to financial disclosure documents published in November, in a sale that is worth more than $1.1 billion.