Microsoft Shareholders OK Stock Changes
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Microsoft Corp. shareholders on Tuesday approved changes to the company's stock compensation plans, clearing the way for the software giant to award a one-time, &#36;3-per-share dividend that will cost the company an estimated &#36;32 billion.
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(InfoWorld) - Bill Gates sold over 20 million shares of Microsoft Corp. stock last month, with just around 2 million of the shares affected by global stock market turmoil. The company chairman sold nearly 4 million shares of Microsoft stock in the last three days of February, including 1.87 million shares last Monday, 990,000 shares on Tuesday, and 1 million shares on Wednesday, according to filings to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Tuesday share sale coincided with one of the worst days global stock markets have seen in years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 416 points on the day to end at 12,216. Microsoft dropped 4.1 percent on the day to end at US$27.87. The company is part of the Dow index. Market watchers blame the global equities turmoil on everything from a sell-off in Shanghai shares to fears of an end to the carry-trade, a term referring to Japan. For years, investors have been able to borrow money in Japan for nearly free because the nation has maintained near-zero interest rates. Borrowers have then taken that money and invested it elsewhere, including in global stock and precious metals markets. The fear is that Japan may start hiking interest rates, causing investors to sell assets bought using their borrowed yen to repay their obligations. Japan has maintained low interest rates for years, a measure aimed at bolstering its economy. No one has blamed the technology sector for the sell-off, but share sales by major figures do attract attention from people trying to gauge the direction markets might take. Gates is considered an insider due to his position at Microsoft, and therefore has to file notices to the SEC when he sells shares, leaving a public record of transactions. He collected over half a billion dollars from the February share sale, according to the SEC filings. The filings do not say why Gates sold the shares. After the share sale, however, he remains the largest shareholder in Microsoft with 917.5 million shares, or around 9.2 percent of shares outstanding.
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US stocks gained on optimism the US presidential election would produce a clear winner, acting as the catalyst to lift share prices the rest of the year.
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Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates has agreed to join the board of directors at Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK.
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Microsoft Corp  lifted its full-year estimates on Thursday after posting a 23 percent rise in quarterly profit, helped by strong demand for "Halo 3" and computers running its operating system, sending its shares up 12 percent.
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The U.S. Securities and Exchange  Commission voted 5-0 on Tuesday to propose sweeping changes in  how companies offer stock, including eliminating the so-called  pre-offer "quiet period" for very large companies.
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U.S. stock indexes gained on Monday as takeover news and strong profits from large-cap companies, such as Merck & Co. , reassured investors after a broad sell-off at the end of last week.
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US stocks powered higher Friday as a blockbuster Microsoft bid for Yahoo helped Wall Street shake off a shock report showing the first decline in jobs for the US economy in over four years.
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Dow Jones shareholders approve the $5bn (Â£2.5bn) takeover by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
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Stocks rose on Tuesday as investors bought beaten-down shares of technology heavyweights such as IBM  and Microsoft Corp  on hopes that the tech sector would weather the impact of the credit crisis.
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Stocks were set to open higher on Friday as strong earnings from companies, including Microsoft Corp, and a speedy agreement on a U.S. economic stimulus package helped lift investor confidence.
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Microsoft Corp. said on Friday it  expects to complete less than one-quarter of a $20 billion  share buyback this week, shifting the rest of the buyback to  later dates -- a move that traders said was boosting its stock  price.
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European shares made tentative gains Monday in spite of concerns that equities had become overvalued.
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Shareholders of the company approved a $19.5 billion buyout on Tuesday, more than 10 months after the deal was proposed.
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Paychecks stay the same for the top two, but compensation changes for other Microsoft workers as stock grants replace options.
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BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Microsoft Corp. agreed to obey key parts of a 2004 antitrust ruling upheld by an appeals court last month, EU regulators said Monday, cutting royalties for rivals and handing information over to open source developers.
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U.S. stocks were little changed on  Friday in thin holiday trading as a rebound in steel shares and  end-of-year buying provided some support.