Bill Gates Continues To Sell Microsoft. Should You? (MSFT)

A look on Finviz shows that the world's richest man may not like the company he once founded anymore. Bill Gates, with an estimated net worth of $53 billion, continues to sell shares in Microsoft MSFT, the company he founded along with Paul Allen. After being a part of the company for so long, from its inception in the mid 1970's to 2008, when he became Chairman of the board, it seems like Gates is dumping shares of Microsoft pretty regularly lately. From May 3 to August 17, Gates has sold more than 20 million shares. He still owns an enormous amount of shares, holding more than 620 million shares. This may be nothing more than diversifying ones' portfolio, or perhaps he is selling because the options are expiring. He could even be selling to cover a tax bill. No one really knows the ultimate reason why Gates is selling other than him. There are plenty of reasons why Gates is unloading his stake, but one that really speaks volumes. Investors may want to pay particularly close attention to this reason. It just seems rather odd that Gates continues to sell shares in a company that many see as stagnant and too big to get out of its own way. There hasn't been any relevant growth in Microsoft to speak about in almost a decade, as shares have actually lost value since August 2001. In August 2001, Microsoft shares went for $28.53. Today shares are selling at $24.24. This doesn't include dividends that Microsoft has paid out over this time frame, but you get the drift. The share price has been stagnant under Steve Ballmer The share price has been dormant for almost a decade, and Gates sees this as well. He isn't blind and perhaps this is the reason for selling so many shares. His thought process might be its time to cut losses, and put his money where it can be better put to use. Since the beginning of the year, Gates has reduced his stake in the Bellevue, Wash. based company by nearly 150 million shares. To me, this seems like more than diversifying your portfolio, or selling some shares to buy another house. Maybe, just maybe, Bill Gates doesn't like Microsoft anymore. This is definitely something to keep an eye on going forward if you're an investor in Microsoft. Is MSFT a Buy, Sell or Hold? Click Here.