Microsoft Corp co-founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen have unloaded $3.7bn of the company’s shares so far this year and their ambitions to diversify their investments seem set to accelerate. This month alone Gates has filed to sell a further 2.5 million shares worth $257m while Allen is getting rid of another million, raking in $103m. With Microsoft shares selling at a hefty 62.5 times earnings, both are taking advantage of a market where the slowing down of Microsoft’s growth rates has done little to sate the market’s appetite for the shares. Allen has been most active in cutting his holdings with sales of shares worth $2.3bn so far this year. But he has been expanding his activities rapidly in cable television. Last month he paid $4.5bn for St Louis, Missouri-based Charter Communications, the 10th largest cable operator in the US and in April he splashed out $2bn to acquire Dallas, Texas-based Marcus Cable Co (CI No 3,464). Gates’ investments have been less high profile though he has been investing in biotechnology companies to help them unravel the secrets of DNA (CI No 3,291). According to filings in September last year, Gates owned 271 million Microsoft shares and Allen 92 million.
