(The Street) - Microsoft Get Microsoft Corporation Report CEO Satya Nadella sold about half of his shares in the company last week, according to a federal securities filing, ahead of a change in the way the shares will be taxed.
The sale yielded more than $285 million for Nadella after selling 838,584 shares over two days, down nearly 1.7 million shares.
“Satya sold approximately 840,000 shares of his holdings of Microsoft stock for personal financial planning and diversification reasons,” a Microsoft spokesman told the Wall Street Journal.
“He is committed to the continued success of the company and his holdings significantly exceed the holding requirements set by the Microsoft board of directors.”
The Journal reported that the sale could be related to Washington state instituting a 7% tax for long-term capital gains beginning at the start of next year for anything exceeding $250,000 a year.
By TONY OWUSU
