Bill Gates
has made billions of dollars in his biggest U.S. stock investments in 2023’s bull market, as some shares of companies in which he owns large stakes have risen to records.
Cascade Investment, an investment vehicle for Gates, co-founder of
Microsoft
(ticker: MSFT), owns about 35% of
Republic Services
(RSG), 21% of
AutoNation
(AN), 11% of
Ecolab
(ECL), and about 7% of
Deere
(DE). Those investments make Gates the largest shareholder of waste and recycling firm Republic Services, car dealer AutoNation, Ecolab—a provider of water-treatment, hygiene, and infection-prevention goods and services—and heavy-machinery maker Deere.
Cascade owns 110 million Republic Services shares, 9.9 million AutoNation shares, 31.1 million Ecolab shares, and 20 million Deere shares. Gates also owns another 5.2 million Ecolab shares and 3.9 million Deere shares through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, but the Cascade positions alone make him the largest shareholder in those companies.
In fact, Cascade’s positions in those four companies have shot up by $4 billion in the first half of the year. Excluding the investment in Deere stock, the only one that has slipped in 2023, Cascade’s investments in Republic Services, AutoNation, and Ecolab surged $4.5 billion.
“All four of those positions reflect Cascade’s patient and fundamental approach to long-term value investing,” said Cascade Asset Management Chief Investment Officer Michael Larson in an emailed statement. Cascade Asset oversees Cascade Investment and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust. “There will be ups and downs, but we remain positive about the prospects of these companies given the underlying business models and the proven strength of the management teams.”
Republic Services stock rose 19% to $153.17 in the first half of the year, and set a record intraday high of $153.39 on the last day of that period, June 30. Cascade’s position in the stock soared $2.7 billion in value in the first half to $16.8 billion.
Cascade’s investment in AutoNation surged $566 million in value to $1.6 billion in the first half as the stock leapt 53% to $164.61. AutoNation stock set a record intraday high of $166.27 on June 29.
Ecolab stock gained 28% to $186.69 in the first half of 2023, and touched an intraday high of $187.45 on June 30, a level shares last traded at in February 2022. Cascade’s Ecolab investment ended June at a valuation of $5.8 billion, up $1.3 billion for the first half.
Deere stock slipped 5% in the first half to end at $405.19, and Cascade’s investment in the shares slipped $466 million to $8 billion. Deere’s underperformance in 2023 follows a 25% rise in 2022.
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.
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