Bill Gates Foundation reduces its Microsoft stake to Zero from 28.5 million, a move driven by…

Bill Gates' charity foundation no longer owns a single share of Microsoft (MSFT)—the first time that's been true since the foundation was set up in 2000. The Gates Foundation Trust sold its final 7.7 million MSFT shares in Q1 2026, a stake worth $3.2 billion, capping a two-year wind-down that began with 28.5 million shares. The 13F filing landed on May 15, and Microsoft stock slipped 0.42% to $422.07 the same day, even as billionaire investor Bill Ackman disclosed a fresh $2.3 billion Microsoft buy on the very same day.

Why the Gates Foundation Trust sold its entire Microsoft stake in Q1 2026

The Microsoft sell-off isn't a bearish call on the stock. Bill Gates committed last year to spending down the foundation's full endowment by 2045, with annual grantmaking climbing to $9 billion this year. That kind of payout schedule needs cash, and the trust's most concentrated holding was always going to fund it first.

Microsoft shares anchored the Gates Foundation portfolio for decades because Bill Gates personally donated them over the years. Warren Buffett's annual Berkshire Hathaway gifts later padded the books. At its 2022 peak, MSFT made up roughly 27% of the trust's holdings. Wind-downs and concentration don't mix, so trimming began in Q4 2023. The biggest single cut came in Q3 2025, when the trust lopped off nearly 65% of the position. Q1 2026 closed the file.

Per Barron's, the trust's portfolio is now worth $31.7 billion after the exit. As a private foundation, it pays a federal excise tax of just 1.39% on net capital gains, well under the standard capital gains rate that retail investors pay.

Bill Ackman buys $2.3 billion Microsoft stake as Gates Foundation exits

Pershing Square's Bill Ackman disclosed a fresh 5.65 million-share Microsoft position the same day, worth around $2.3 billion. He pegged his cost basis at 21 times forward earnings, calling Microsoft's AI franchise underpriced after February's OpenAI cloud restructuring knocked the stock.

Ackman didn't quite absorb the foundation's supply—he was short by roughly 2 million shares—which is part of why MSFT closed red despite the bullish disclosure hitting the tape.

Microsoft stock still sits at the center of the AI infrastructure trade. The $9.7 billion IREN data-center deal and the London Stock Exchange partnership keep the Azure cloud growth narrative intact heading into the next earnings cycle. For Gates personally, the financial tie to the company he co-founded with Paul Allen in 1975 is officially over.