Bill Gates no longer owns a significant amount of Microsoft stock. Ballmer was the largest shareholder the last time I looked.
Gates isn't hoarding anything, and in any case, all his wealth is going to charity.
Gates isn't hoarding anything, and in any case, all his wealth is going to charity.
Since when is $11.3 billion held by one person in one company, not a lot? It's one of the largest single positions held by any person on the planet in a given company. That position is so large, by itself it would nearly qualify a person into the top 100 richest list globally.
Top Microsoft mutual fund position: Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund, 155 million shares.
Bill Gates: 167 million shares.
He'd be the seventh largest institutional holder in Microsoft - a $528 billion company.
Incidentally, Yahoo Finance reckons The Vanguard Group owns 525,395,707 Microsoft shares. The Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund is just one of its funds.
YF doesn't mention Ballmer so presumably he sold off his 333 million shares without it making news. It's a while since I looked....