Bill Gates agrees to pay for stock-rule violations
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-05-04 14:28

U.S. antitrust regulators say Microsoft Corp chairman Bill Gates has agreed to pay $800,000 for violating premerger regulations in two past stock purchases.

U.S. antitrust regulators said on May 3, 2004 that Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates had agreed to pay $800,000 for violating pre-merger regulations in stock acquisitions in 2001 and 2002. The Federal Trade Commission said the violations stemmed from Gates' acquisition of voting securities of Republic Services Inc. and ICOS Corp. Gates is seen addressing a conference in San Francisco on February 24. [Reuters]

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on Monday Gates failed to notify antitrust officials properly about his acquisition of voting securities of Republic Services Inc. in 2001 and ICOS Corp. in 2002. Mark Beatty, the general counsel for Gates' private investment fund, said in a statement the problem was the result of a mistake and Gates was never personally involved in the transactions.

Gates bought shares in trash-hauling company Republic Services in November 2001. The transaction put his holdings over a 10 per cent threshold requiring antitrust notification, the commission said. But Gates failed to notify antitrust authorities, believing he was exempt from the requirement because the acquisition was for investment purposes only. Gates later made a corrected filing in the case, and the commission declined to seek any penalties.

Six months later, however, Gates bought shares in ICOS, co-maker of impotence treatment Cialis, according to the commission. Once again Gates thought he was exempt.

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