[swombat]

> Some quick math says that Ballmer and Gates own about a third of Microsoft combined.

Incorrect. They own about 6.7%. See http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2587008

[jeroen]

Also incorrect. They own about 10.7%. See the comment on the comment you link to.

[ikono]

That's pretty fascinating. I just assumed that the majority of their net wealth was in the form of MSFT shares. I'm now very curious what the other 2/3s of their net worth is held in.

You can see them steadily selling off shares here: http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/own-disp?action=getissuer&CIK...

[cpeterso]

It's very common for executives to sell shares on a regular (non-secret) schedule to avoid claims of insider trading or false news about "Bill Gates selling stock; MSFT must be in trouble!"