Microsoft Ballmer Sells Shares for the First Time Ever

With Kinect only fresh in the shops in the USA - and not even launched in the UK - the fact that Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer, has divested himself of £800m ($1.3 billion) worth of stock in his own company could come as a bit of a shock.

This is even more shocking given that it's the first time in seven years that the Microsoft stalwart has cashed in stock in the company.

In order to allay stockholder jitters, Mr Ballmer issued a statement stating, "Even though this is a personal financial matter, I want to be clear about this to avoid any confusion".

According to the BBC, "Mr Ballmer still holds 359 million shares, worth $9.6bn at Microsoft's current share price, which closed down 1.36% at $26.77 in US trading on Friday.

"He said the sale of shares was made to diversify his investments and help his year-end tax planning."

Source: BBC