What if Bill Gates kept his Microsoft shares?
Gates's vision and leadership during the formative years were instrumental in this ascent. By 1999, Microsoft had crossed a $500 billion valuation, with Gates still owning about 20% of the company. If he had preserved these shares, they would be valued at over $500 billion today.
Gates' ownership in Microsoft dropped from 45% during the company's IPO in 1986 to only 1.34%, representing 102.99 million shares as per the last ownership disclosure in October 2019. Since stepping down in 2020, he has stopped publicly reporting his ownership of Microsoft.
While Gates is best known as the mastermind behind Microsoft, he has amassed a fortune beyond what his Microsoft shares are worth. Despite only a fraction of his wealth coming from Microsoft, the company remains a pivotal part of his financial journey.
Bill Gates' fortune today is 138 billion dollars, if he hadn't diversified it would be 1.33 trillion dollars.
The top shareholders of Microsoft are Satya Nadella, Bradford L. Smith, Kathleen Hogan, Vanguard Group Inc., BlackRock Inc. (BLK), and State Street Corp. Here's a more detailed look at Microsoft's six biggest shareholders.
Some billionaires like Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Mark Zuckerberg do drive normal cars, while others may choose to drive luxury or high-end cars. For example, Bill Gates is known to drive a Ford Focus and a Porsche 911, both of which are considered relatively modest compared to some other luxury vehicles.
This investment reportedly gave Gates a 3% ownership stake in the company. In 1997, Gates increased his investment in Amazon by purchasing an additional $2 million worth of stock, giving him a total of 5% ownership in the company.
Another set of data shows that Gates earns about 7.6 million US dollars a day, which is equivalent to 319635 US dollars per hour. According to reports, only a small portion of Gates's wealth comes from Microsoft shares, accounting for about 12.5%.
Some 2.5 million shares were sold the first day, raising $61 million in what some analysts referred to as “the deal of the year.” Co-founder Bill Gates, then 30, sold $1.6 million in shares and retained a 45 percent stake worth $350 million. Microsoft stock climbed more than a hundredfold between 1986 and 1996.
In general, and except in specific circ*mstances as noted on certain grant applications, the foundation is unable to make grants directly to individuals.
Could Bill Gates have been a trillionaire?
Fast forward to the present, and Microsoft's market capitalization stands at approximately $2.805 trillion. Had Gates maintained his 45% stake, it would equate to $1.23 trillion today — a figure that dwarfs the net worths of Musk and Bezos.
In July 2022, Gates said he planned to give “virtually all” of his wealth to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, according to a post shared on X, formerly known as Twitter. His message came as the foundation revealed a new plan to increase yearly spending “from nearly $6 billion to $9 billion annually by 2026.”
Philanthropy Through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Gates has transferred a great deal of his accumulated wealth from Microsoft to the foundation, and one day he plans to give all of his wealth to his charity foundation.
Jeffrey Bezos owns the most shares of Amazon (AMZN).
| Holder | Shares | % Out |
|---|---|---|
| Vanguard Group Inc | 664.91M | 8.95% |
| Blackrock Inc. | 538.94M | 7.25% |
| State Street Corporation | 297.63M | 4.01% |
| FMR, LLC | 218.84M | 2.95% |
- Vanguard Group – 904,799,079 – 7.28%
- BlackRock – 770,420,817 – 6.20%
- State Street Corp – 413,134,392 – 3.32%
- FMR LLC – 344,140,631 – 2.77%
- Geode Capital Management – 225,660,182 – 1.82%
- Larry Page – 389,051,160 – 3.12%
- Sergey Brin – 363,474,028 – 2.92%
- Eric E.
Musk then famously tweeted a photo of Gates in a golf shirt with a bulging belly that made him look pregnant and mocked his appearance. “At this point, I am convinced he is categorically insane (and an a–hole to the core),” Musk texted Isaacson after the exchange with Gates. “I did actually want to like him (sigh).”
Bombardier Challenger 350
Bill Gates owns four private jets as well as a Cessna 208 Seaplane and a Eurocopter EC 135 helicopter. His private jet collection is made up of two Gulfstream G650ER's and two Bombardier Challenger 350s.
Mark Zuckerberg
He's been seen in a black Acura TSX, a Volkswagen Golf GTI hatchback, and a Honda Fit — all of which are valued at or under $30,000 — and recently posted a photo on Instagram of two refurbished Ford Broncos, captioned "his and hers."
Bullish on this entire logistics and supply chain market, regardless of the competitive differences, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation now owns through Cascade Investment 1.53 million shares of FedEx Corp.
Why are so many billionaires selling their stocks?
"Billionaire CEOs like [Jeff] Bezos, [Mark] Zuckerberg, Jamie Dimon, and the Walton family are selling off massive amounts of their own stocks, and analysts think the CEOS may be bracing for an economic downturn," he said, adding, “An overheated stock market continues to climb to new heights as investors feed that ...
The reason behind this move is to secure their wealth amidst rising interest rates and economic uncertainty. Similar issues are still ongoing to this day.
Bill Gates: Gates co-founded Microsoft with Paul Allen in 1975 when he was just 19 years old. The company went public in 1986, making Gates an instant millionaire at the age of 31. By 1987, he was worth $1.25 billion, and his net worth has since grown to over $100 billion.
Bill Gates famously spend a couple decades working 10 hours a day, 7 days a week, no vacations. I was never willing to work that hard, and so I accept that I never made Bill Gates billions. I've made enough off of my investments to be able to work full time for the D Language Foundation.
Microsoft's return is even more impressive than Apple's, as it turned $1,000 invested in its 1986 IPO to $4.1 million now. However, Microsoft's stock ride was rather bumpy, as its stock turned $1,000 into nearly $600,0000 by the turn of the century.
