Microsoft (MSFT) Stock: Gates Foundation Offloads $9 Billion in Shares During Q3

TLDR

• Gates Foundation Trust dumped 17 million Microsoft shares in Q3, reducing holdings from $13.9B to $4.76B
• Microsoft fell to the trust’s fourth-largest position after years as the top holding
• The trust has sold Microsoft stock every quarter since late 2023
• Sales appear linked to the foundation’s goal of increasing annual grants to $9 billion by 2026
• External managers at Cascade Investments handle trading decisions, not Bill Gates directly

The Gates Foundation Trust made waves with a massive Microsoft stock sale in the third quarter. The foundation unloaded roughly 17 million shares, cutting its stake by 65%.

Microsoft Corporation, MSFT

The position shrank from $13.9 billion to $4.76 billion. Microsoft tumbled from the trust’s largest holding to fourth place.

Bill Gates co-founded Microsoft but left day-to-day operations in 2008. His foundation trust manages nearly $50 billion in total assets.

Berkshire Hathaway now leads the trust’s portfolio at $10.9 billion. Waste Management and Canadian National Railway also rank above Microsoft.

The Q3 sale generated roughly $8.8 billion in proceeds. The trust also reduced other positions and completely exited Crown Castle and United Parcel Service.

A Pattern of Consistent Selling

This wasn’t a one-time move. The Gates Foundation Trust has sold Microsoft shares every quarter since the end of 2023.

Cascade Investments runs the trust’s portfolio management. Bill Gates doesn’t make individual trading decisions.

The trust did break its selling pattern once. It purchased nearly 40 million Microsoft shares in 2022.

Before that purchase, the trust regularly sold Microsoft stock quarterly for years. The current selling wave follows that historical trend.

The Charitable Spending Connection

The foundation plans to boost annual grantmaking to $9 billion by 2026. It aims to spend down its entire endowment by 2045.

These commitments require steady cash flow. Reducing concentration in one stock improves portfolio stability for funding global health and education programs.

Diversifying into holdings like Berkshire Hathaway matches standard practices for charitable endowments. The trust needs reliable liquidity for its mission.

Microsoft stock trades around $478 per share. Shares dropped 12% from their late-October high near $555.

The stock trades at nearly 13 times sales. Microsoft last hit this valuation during the dot-com bubble twenty years ago.

Strong Business Fundamentals Remain

Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform continues growing. The company plans $80 billion in data center spending this year.

Nvidia recently posted blowout earnings with 60% revenue growth. Those results confirm robust AI infrastructure spending, which benefits Azure directly.

The trust still owns over 9 million Microsoft shares. The $4.76 billion position represents a major holding, not a full exit.

No evidence suggests the sales reflect concerns about Microsoft’s business. The company generates strong free cash flow and trades at a lower forward P/E than many AI competitors after its pullback.

Azure growth accelerates while Copilot adoption expands across Microsoft’s product suite. The foundation’s selling appears driven by portfolio management needs rather than bearish views on the stock.

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