REDMOND, Wash. (AP) -- Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who has given billions of dollars in stock to his charitable foundation this year, has seen his ownership share in the software company slip to just over 15 percent, down from nearly 20 percent in January.
Gates is still by far the largest shareholder in Microsoft, with holdings valued at more than $72 billion, according to the company's proxy filed Tuesday.The filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission shows Gates, 43, with 787.1 million shares of Microsoft stock or 15.3 percent of the shares outstanding. Microsoft's last proxy filing on Jan. 29 reported that Gates had just over 1 billion shares, or 19.8 percent.
Microsoft's stock closed Tuesday at $92.12 1/2 on the Nasdaq stock market, up 69 cents a share.
In the first nine months of this year, Gates and his wife donated approximately $15 billion to their private charity, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The foundation, started two years ago, now has assets of more than $17 billion, making it the largest philanthropic organization in the United States.
Mrs. Gates, a former Microsoft executive, separately owns 214,460 shares of Microsoft, the proxy says. At current stock prices, her holdings would be worth about $19.8 million.
Gates, who last year turned over many of the day-to-day functions at Microsoft to president and longtime friend Steve Ballmer, has made a number of huge charitable gifts through his foundation in recent months.
Two weeks ago, the charity donated $1 billion for minority scholarships. Other large gifts this year include $50 million to fight cervical cancer, $50 million for public health in developing nations, $50 million for malaria vaccine research and $25 million to search for an AIDS vaccine.
Gates has riches outside of his Microsoft holdings. Forbes Magazine last week ranked him as the richest American, with an estimated $85 billion, in its annual list of the nation's 400 wealthiest individuals.
In second place was Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen at $40 billion, while Ballmer was fourth at an estimated $23 billion.
The proxy shows Allen is the second-largest Microsoft shareholder with 260.7 million shares or 5.1 percent, and Ballmer as the third-largest, with 239.6 million shares or 4.7 percent.
Gates' total salary and compensation for the fiscal year ended June 30 was $623,373, while Ballmer received $665,373 and Bob Herbold, executive vice president and chief operating officer, received $977,155.