Satya Nadella sold $36 million in Microsoft stock, his biggest sell off since becoming CEO in 2014.
Nadella sold 328,000 shares of Microsoft stock at an average price of $109.44, according to a filing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Friday. Microsoft said the stock sale was for “personal financial planning and diversification reasons.”
This is the second time Nadella has sold off company stock. In 2016 he divested 143,000 shares worth approximately $8.3 million.
“The stock divestitures made today were for personal financial planning and diversification reasons. Satya 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 company said in a statement.
Nadella still owns 778,596 shares of Microsoft stock following the sell off, according to the filing. At the price of today’s sale, Nadella’s holdings would be worth approximately $85.2 million.
In addition to today’s sale, Nadella set up a plan to offload additional shares at predetermined dates, something many high-ranking executives do to avoid appearances of insider trading when they sell stock.
It’s fairly common for big tech executives to sell holdings in their companies for a variety of reasons. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who says he is looking for philanthropic causes to invest his immense wealth in, sells off about $1 billion a year in company stock to finance his space ventures.
Mark Zuckerburg is the most active seller of stock among tech executives. The Facebook CEO and his wife, pediatrician Priscilla Chan, pledged to give 99 percent of their holdings in the company to their Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a philanthropic organization focused on health and education.
