Microsoft Chief Calms Investors After Selling Shares

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer raised about $955m (£600m) from the sale of a tranche of shares in the software company at the end of last week, the first time in 12 years he has sold stock in the firm.

Mr Ballmer sold 39.3m shares for between $23.93 and
$24.67. He said he had decided to divest some of his holding to diversify his portfolio. Under new rules designed to restore confidence in Wall Street among investors, directors are forced to disclose share sales within two days.

The sale left him with about 431.6m shares - 4% of the company - giving the long-time lieutenant of co-founder
Bill Gates a net worth of about $10.5bn. While Mr Ballmer has held onto his stock in Microsoft, Mr Gates has been a well-known and regular seller to raise cash for his charitable foundation which channels funds towards many causes, including healthcare in the developing world.

Mr Gates sells about 20m shares each quarter and has
reduced his holding by more than 400m shares in the past few years.

Investors often take the sale of stock by a director as a hint that they too should sell shares. Mr Ballmer issued a statement to head off any unease. "Even though this is a personal financial matter, I want to be clear about this to avoid any confusion," he said.
"I remain excited about the potential for our technology to change people's lives and I remain as committed to Microsoft as ever."

Shares in the company climbed six cents on Friday to close at $24.22, where they sat unchanged by mid-day trade in New York yesterday. The 12-month high of $29.48 was hit in December.

Mr Ballmer, who joined Microsoft in 1980, was made chief executive in January 2000 when Mr Gates relinquished the post to become chairman. Mr Gates has spent an increasing amount of time on his philanthropic interests and long-term strategic issues at Microsoft, handing many day-to-day responsibilities to Mr Ballmer.