The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed out the month of October 2010 at 11,118, having gained 269 points or 2.5% during the month. Since the beginning of September, the Dow steadily rose by over 980 points, representing an increase of almost 10%. The stock market’s solid advances, as well as looming capital gains tax changes that will take effect in 2011, likely influenced the significant increase in stock sales by US executives during the month of October.
Donor Watch’s most recent report, which covers stock sale transactions in October by wealthy college graduates, covers $4.6 billion in sales, a significant up-tick over last month. The top sellers that were reviewed in the analysis all received undergraduate degrees from major US colleges and universities.
Topping the list were the University of Chicago and the University of Southern California, both of which had total alumni selling activity that was greater than $350 million in stock during the month of October. Like the 3rd Quarter of 2010, UofC's Larry Ellison of Oracle Corp (ORCL) and USC's Marc Benioff of Saleforce.com (CRM) led their respective universities in cash raising transactions.
The next tier of top schools consists of institutions that saw more than $100 million in alumni selling, including: the University of Pennsylvania, Dowling College, University of Michigan, Stanford University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Notably, UPENN graduates and GLG Partners (GLG) board members Martin Franklin and William Lauder were significant sellers of GLG, which was acquired by hedge fund behemoth the Man Group in October. Google’s (GOOG) Larry Page and Ram Shriram, both of whom are University of Michigan graduates, led their alma-mater’s cash list, accounting for more than $150 million in stock sales. Stanford’s list was led by Ronald B. Johnson who is the Senior Vice President of Retail at Apple Inc (AAPL). Mr. Johnson, who has a BA in Economics from Stanford and an MBA from Harvard Business School, sold 150,000 shares of AAPL with a market value at the time of $45.9 million. Despite his significant stock sales, Johnson still has almost $73 million worth of AAPL in his Donor Watch stock portfolio.
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