Ballmer Sells Huge Chunk of Microsoft Shares

By Robert Davis
Nov 7 2010

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced today that he sold 50 million shares in his company last week, worth an estimated $1.3 billion.

Ballmer also announced that he plans to sell an additional 25 million shares in the coming month.

Microsoft issued a statement on behalf of Ballmer, hoping to head off any negative connotations about the sale of the stock.

According to the statement issued by the company, Ballmer is selling the stock to diversify his stock portfolio and help his tax plan for the end of the year.

On paper Ballmer is one of the highest paid CEO’s in the world. Besides a very lucrative salary each year, Ballmer receives a hefty chunk of shares in the company. He is said to hold at least 350 million shares in Microsoft and that number increases with each passing year.

Microsoft was quick to submit their statement on the sale of the stocks. The fear was that consumers and investors would connect a possible downfall in Microsoft products with the sale of the stocks.

Ballmer announced that the sale had nothing to do with the products or the company. He has said that he remains committed to the company and all products that they have developed and released since taking over.

“Even though this is a personal finance matter, I want to be clear about this to avoid any confusion,” Ballmer said in the statement, “I am excited about our new product lines and the potential for our products to change lives.”