With $3.2B stock sale Gates Foundation exits Microsoft ending long-held position in software giant

The Gates Foundation Trust, which holds the more than $86 billion in assets of the Gates Foundation, has sold its remaining 7.7 million shares of Microsoft, worth an estimated $3.2 billion, fully exiting its long-held position in the software giant. The sale by the foundation established in 2002 by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his then wife, Melinda French Gates, was disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing and follows a broader reduction in holdings from 28.5 million shares a year earlier, when Microsoft represented roughly a quarter of the trust’s portfolio. The divestment marks a notable shift in the foundation’s investment posture as Gates advances plans to wind down the foundation’s operations over the coming decades and deploy its assets. Bill Gates continues to hold significant personal Microsoft equity, even as the philanthropic trust restructures its portfolio.