Satya Nadella dumps 50% of Microsoft shares in multiple tranches ahead of capital gains tax change

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella sold half of his stake in the company in multiple tranches in November. Nadella offloaded about 840,000 shares for over $285 million, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Microsoft in a statement said that he sold his stake for personal financial planning and diversification reasons, according to a Geek Wire report. “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,” the company said. The Wall Street Journal cited analysts to say that the move could be related to the impending implementation of capital gains tax law by the Washington state. The controversial law, which goes into effect on 1 January, 2022, affects business ownership sales and attracts a seven percent tax on stock sales over $250,000. Washington state’s new capital gains tax is expected to raise about $550 million annually. The Microsoft stock did not, however, react much to Nadella’s stake sale. The company’s shares closed 1.7 percent down on November 30 at $330.59. Nadella was named CEO of the technology giant in 2015 and has presided over a period of growth at Microsoft since then. Microsoft shares were trading around $36.35 when he took the reins in February 2014. Microsoft’s quarterly earnings, announced in October, blew past the market expectations, fuelled by demand for cloud computing and Windows-powered machines. The US tech titan said it made a profit of $20.5 billion in the recently ended quarter on revenue that climbed to $45.3 billion in a 22 percent increase from the same quarter last year.