Bill Gates Sells Its Last Microsoft Shares

Business & Finance

May 17

Bill Gates did not sell Microsoft. What happened is narrower, but still notable: the Gates Foundation Trust no longer lists Microsoft stock among its publicly disclosed holdings after selling its remaining shares during the first quarter of 2026.

The change appeared in a Form 13F-HR filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on May 15, covering the quarter ended March 31, 2026. The Trust’s prior filing showed 7,691,207 Microsoft shares valued at about $3.72 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025; the March 31, 2026 information table lists holdings such as Berkshire Hathaway, Waste Management, Canadian National Railway and Caterpillar, but no Microsoft position.

The sale marks the end of Microsoft’s run as a major disclosed holding inside the Gates Foundation Trust, the endowment vehicle that funds the Gates Foundation’s philanthropic work. A year earlier, the Trust reported 28,457,247 Microsoft shares valued at roughly $10.68 billion as of March 31, 2025.

What the filing actually shows

The key distinction is that this was a Trust portfolio change, not a sale of Microsoft as a company. Microsoft remains a publicly traded company, and the SEC filing does not describe any change in Microsoft’s ownership, board control, executive leadership or business operations.

Form 13F filings are quarterly disclosures from institutional investment managers. They show certain securities over which a manager exercises investment discretion, including the number of shares and market value at quarter-end. They do not explain every reason behind a trade, and they are not the same as a full accounting of an individual’s personal wealth.

Reporting period	Microsoft shares reported by Gates Foundation Trust	Reported value
March 31, 2025	28,457,247	$10.68 billion
Sept. 30, 2025	9,191,207	$4.76 billion
Dec. 31, 2025	7,691,207	$3.72 billion
March 31, 2026	No Microsoft position listed	Not listed

The March 2026 filing still shows a concentrated portfolio, led by Berkshire Hathaway, Waste Management, Canadian National Railway and Caterpillar. That means Microsoft’s removal reflects a reallocation inside the Trust, not a retreat from public markets altogether.

Why the Trust sale fits the foundation’s broader plan

The Gates Foundation says its endowment is held and managed by the Gates Foundation Trust, with Bill Gates serving as trustee and Cascade Asset Management managing the endowment. The foundation also says its program staff do not control or participate in the Trust’s investment activities beyond publicly available disclosures.

That structure matters because the Trust exists to fund grantmaking. In May 2025, the Gates Foundation announced a plan to spend $200 billion over 20 years and close by Dec. 31, 2045. The foundation said Gates would dedicate virtually all of his remaining personal wealth to its work during that period.

Seen in that context, the Microsoft sale looks less like a statement about Microsoft’s future and more like part of a long-term shift toward deploying assets for philanthropy. The Trust has been reducing its Microsoft exposure for several quarters, moving from more than 28 million shares in early 2025 to none listed at the end of the first quarter of 2026.

What this does not mean for Microsoft

The sale does not mean Gates has sold Microsoft itself, nor does it mean Microsoft has been bought, taken private or separated from public shareholders. It also does not prove that Gates personally owns no Microsoft stock outside the Trust.

Gates has been moving away from day-to-day Microsoft roles for years. Microsoft announced in 2020 that he stepped down from the company’s board to focus more on philanthropic priorities, while continuing as a technology adviser to CEO Satya Nadella and other company leaders.

Market reaction to Microsoft has also been mixed. While the Gates Foundation Trust exited its position, other investors have been moving in the opposite direction. Reuters reported that Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square built a Microsoft stake after a decline in the company’s share price, with Ackman citing Microsoft’s enterprise software and cloud businesses.

The bottom line

The accurate version of the story is this: the Gates Foundation Trust sold its remaining disclosed Microsoft stock position during the first quarter of 2026. That ends a symbolic connection between Microsoft and the foundation’s endowment portfolio, but it is not a sale of Microsoft as a company and should not be read as a control-changing event.

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Harry Negron

CEO of Jivaro, a writer, and a military vet with a PhD in Biomedical Sciences and a BS in Microbiology & Mathematics.