Bill Gates cut his holdings in embattled biotech Exicure by selling 1.3 million shares at 24 cents each.
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Bill Gates has cut back on an investment in an embattled biotech stock. He may have exited the position entirely.
Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft (ticker: MSFT), sold 1.3 million shares of Exicure (XCUR) on Dec. 21 for $303,200, a per-share average price of 24 cents. According to a form he filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Gates sold the stock through Gates Frontier, a limited-liability company that he controls.
Gates Frontier declined to comment.
Bill Gates ownership level of Exicure, a developer of immunomodulatory and gene-regulating drugs, has fallen to 4.8 million shares, a stake of 4.8%. Now that he owns less than the threshold of 5%, he can sell the rest of his Exicure shares without public notice—and it’s possible he already has.
Exicure stock has cratered 87% this year. On Dec. 10, the company said an internal investigation found misreporting of raw data, and announced a 50% workforce reduction.
Inside Scoop is a regular Barron’s feature covering stock transactions by corporate executives and board members—so-called insiders—as well as large shareholders, politicians, and other prominent figures. Due to their insider status, these investors are required to disclose stock trades with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory groups.
Write to Ed Lin at [email protected] and follow @BarronsEdLin.
