Bill Gates Foundation Trust completes sale of its remaining Microsoft shares

More than 25 years after the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was created, its financial ties to Microsoft have officially come to an end.The foundation’s trust sold its last remaining 7.7 million Microsoft shares in the first quarter of 2026, according to a report by The Times of India. The holding was valued at roughly $3.2 billion. The sale closes a gradual two-year process that originally started with 28.5 million shares.For decades, Microsoft stock formed the backbone of the foundation’s investment portfolio. Bill Gates steadily donated shares from the company he cofounded with Paul Allen in 1975, while Warren Buffett later boosted the trust through regular Berkshire Hathaway contributions (Berkshire Hathaway is a multinational holding and investment company run by Buffett).At one stage in 2022, Microsoft represented around 27% of the foundation’s total holdings, the report said. However, last year, Gates committed to disburse the charity’s full endowment by 2045. After that, such a large single-company exposure became harder to justify.Gates had earlier said that the foundation plans to donate its money faster instead of operating forever, unlike many traditional charitable endowments.The foundation is expected to distribute about $9 billion in grants this year alone. The biggest reduction came during the third quarter of 2025, when nearly 65% of its Microsoft position was sold. The final exit came in early 2026.The disclosure was made public in a 13F filing on May 15. Microsoft shares ended that trading session down 0.42% at around $422.The same day also brought fresh support for the stock from billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman. His firm Pershing Square revealed a new Microsoft position worth around $2.3 billion, equal to roughly 5.65 million shares.Ackman said Microsoft sits at a "highly compelling valuation". He also argued that competition concerns around Azure and recent changes to the OpenAI partnership that strip Microsoft of its exclusive rights to resell the startup's technology on its cloud were overblown.Even so, Ackman’s buying was not large enough to fully absorb the foundation’s selling. The Gates trust offloaded around 2 million more shares than Pershing Square purchased, which may have contributed to the stock finishing the day lower despite the positive investor interest.According to Barron’s, a financial magazine and website, the Gates Foundation Trust portfolio is now valued at approximately $31.7 billion following the Microsoft exit. Since it operates as a private foundation, it benefits from a federal excise tax rate of just 1.39% on net capital gains, according to the TOI report.Although Gates no longer has a direct financial connection to Microsoft through the foundation, the company remains a major player in the AI investment story. Its recent $9.7 billion IREN data centre deal, alongside its partnership with the London Stock Exchange, continues to strengthen confidence in Azure’s long-term growth prospects.

The Bill Gates Foundation Trust sold its entire Microsoft (MSFT) stake in Q1 2026, offloading the final 7.7 million shares worth $3.2 billion. The exit caps a two-year wind-down from 28.5 million shares, funding Gates' plan to spend the endowment by 2045. Microsoft stock slipped to $422.07 even as Pershing Square's Bill Ackman disclosed a fresh $2.3 billion MSFT buy the same day.