The Gates Foundation Trust sold its remaining 7.7 million Microsoft shares in Q1 2026, finishing a multi-year wind-down that took it from 28.5 million shares a year ago to zero. The final stake was worth $3.2 billion. The trust's portfolio is now valued at $31.7 billion and contains no Microsoft. Bill Gates himself, separately, still holds around 103 million Microsoft shares worth roughly $43 billion, per FactSet.

24/7 Wall St. read the move as planned, not bearish: Microsoft generated $281bn in trailing revenue and $149bn in operating income, with Azure still growing double digits. Be in Crypto noted the timing isn't random either, the Gates Foundation has committed to a 2045 close and is ramping grantmaking to $9bn a year, so the trust needs cash. Stocktwits clocked the buyer on the other side of the trade: Bill Ackman's Pershing Square bought 5.6 million Microsoft shares the same day, calling it a valuation bet on Microsoft's AI franchise. MSFT is down about 11% in 2026 so far.

Look, we despise Microsoft Teams as much as the next person. But to forego your $1.4 trillion fortune just because the software sucks? That's super bold. (Yes, of course, we're joking). The trust's exit is liquidity-driven, not a vote against the company. Gates personally still has $43 billion in MSFT and is "founder and technology advisor" to Microsoft, so the relationship isn't over, just the trust's exposure to it.

The interesting bit for SA operators is what it says about concentrated bets in your own company. Gates rode one stock for 50 years. The trust spent the last three years methodically unwinding from 27% of its portfolio in Microsoft down to zero. Most founders couldn't pull off a clean exit like that, even with one zero on the end of the number.

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