Bill Gates is the second wealthiest man on the planet with a net worth in excess of $90 billion.
Just like you and me, Bill wants to earn a return on his
pile of cash. Of the 17 publicly-traded companies held in the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, 12 pay dividends.
In this article, I track and analyze changes in Bill Gates’
portfolio of dividend stocks.
The fourth quarter of 2017 was uneventful. No new companies
were added to the portfolio, and all of the trust’s existing core holdings were
largely unchanged.
Gates’ trust trimmed its position in Microsoft (MSFT) by
14%. Microsoft appeared as a new position in the second quarter of 2017 and was
likely transferred from Bill Gates’ direction ownership to his trust instead,
so you can’t read much into this activity.
The only other move in the trust was a 7% decrease in its
shares of Berkshire Hathaway. Similar to Microsoft, the trust’s stake in Warren
Buffett’s company has fluctuated up and down each quarter, so these trades are
likely being driven by non-fundamental reasons.
Before analyzing the portfolio’s holdings, let’s review the
trust’s investment strategy.
Bill Gates’ portfolio is managed by Michael Larson, who has
overseen Bill Gates’ personal wealth since 1994.
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