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Home -> Community -> Mailing Lists -> Oracle-L -> For you stock hounds out there
Investors have had a hard time lately, as the stock markets wallow at a fraction of the value they were a year ago, and the Nasdaq regularly hits new lows. Fortunately, there's a little solace for those who blew their vacation fund on a now-worthless IPO or who passed out after checking their 401(k) balance. An examination of some high-profile losers by the Reuters news service and Thompson Financial analyst Kevin Schwenger may give them company, if not sympathy.
Take, for instance, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates. His 700 million shares in Microsoft halved in value during 2000--he lost around $39 billion. That's enough to buy a 13-inch television for every man, woman, and child in the United States. Or to buy more than a thousand F-18E Super Hornet fighter jets.
"It used to be that if a hundred-dollar bill dropped on the ground, Bill Gates made so much money that it would not be financially wise for him to take the time to pick it up," says Wit Soundview analyst Arnie Berman. "That's now changed to where he should pick up hundreds, but not fifties."
Microsoft CEO Steven Ballmer has been a little more fortunate, losing only $12 billion. You could have bought 48 million copies of Windows 2000 with that, Steve. But it wasn't just Microsoft execs who took it in the wallet. Oracle CEO Larry Ellison could own 1 million brand-new VW Beetles with the $16 billion he lost. Theodore Waitt, CEO of Gateway, would have to work 900 million hours at minimum wage to earn back his $4.7 billion loss. And Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos saw his 117 million shares in the online retail giant drop in value more than 84%, to a trifling $1.2 billion, killing his ability to buy everyone in Mexico a Razor scooter.
But temper your schadenfreude. Berman reminds us that
sinking stock values mean more than just reduced personal wealth.
He points out that when a stock becomes less valued, it can make
it harder for a company to make acquisitions and attract strong
employees through stock offers. - David M. Ewalt
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INET: dgoulet_at_vicr.com
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