
Why I’m selling some Twitter shares - Jerry2
https://medium.com/@ev/why-im-selling-some-twitter-shares-e5b81386a796
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tsycho
Stock sales by executives is normally not a big deal, but 30% is a pretty
large number, especially when TWTR is at a pretty depressed price at the
moment. Then again, if he needed the cash, the low stock price increases the
amount of stock he needed to sell.

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creaghpatr
He could write off the loss for tax purpsoses. But I doubt that would make
financial sense unless he thinks twitter is screwed. They could get bought out
for a premium share price but who knows.

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benmanns
I don't think so. His shares likely have a basis of essentially $0, so he'll
pay less taxes on the sale, but only because he's making less money. There's
almost never a reason to turn down real income/growth to save a (less than
100%) percentage of that on taxes.

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M_Grey
_Mr. Williams, Twitter’s largest individual shareholder with a 6% stake, cited
personal reasons for the selling plan, which kicked off Monday. He said he
plans to remain on the company’s board and then keep the “vast majority of my
assets” tied up in Twitter shares.

“It actually pains me to be selling at this point, but this sale is all about
personal context, not company context,” Mr. Williams wrote in a post on
Medium, the blogging startup he now runs as chief executive._

Interesting, and 30% would seem to support the notion that it isn't a lack of
faith in the company, right? It really does sound like he just needed to be
liquid.

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joering2
I respect his personal reasons but the stock is public and he is in charge.

I couldn't care if he liquidates 99% of what he has -- what would put me to
ease as a shareholder is what is that "personal" reason. Buy a house? New
startup? Fight a cancer. Sure, I'm fine... but if that personal reason turns
out to be no reason at all, then its a short sign!

~~~
dualogy
> _what would put me to ease as a shareholder is what is that "personal"
> reason_

That's easy. A "personal reason" is one that's none of anyone's business ;)

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GiorgioG
I'm surprised he waited this long. Twitter's dead and their management doesn't
even know it. Yes, it will limp along the same way Yahoo did and eventually
they will find a suitor to sell to at a very low, low price.

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swah
Where is this feeling coming from? There's only fb, twitter & instagram, no?
I'm not seeing people using their phones less..

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acchow
Snapchat?

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Retric
Ed, NM just got bit by fake news.

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hullo
Snap is not a part of Facebook, they're independent and looking to go public.

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danso
Snapchat had its IPO last month [http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/02/snapchat-snap-
open-trading-pr...](http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/02/snapchat-snap-open-trading-
price-stock-ipo-first-day.html)

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douche
Missed the boat, unfortunately. Selling at the height of the hype cycle eould
have been much better.

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nodesocket
Selling at a record low price for Twitter is probably not the most financially
sound logic.

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kyleblarson
Neither is having ~90+% of your net worth in a single, highly volatile equity.

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golemotron
Given the title it's amazing that he never actually explains why he's selling.

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mikeryan
I thought he pretty clearly explained he wanted it to fund other investments
and charitable giving?

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maxxxxx
Sounds a little like the usual "I want to spend more time with my family"
explanation when someone leaves

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mikeryan
He's got a VC fund called Obvious (mentioned in the post). If you want to know
more details their portfolio is listed here:

[https://obvious.com/portfolio](https://obvious.com/portfolio)

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xemdetia
I kind of like this simple explanation 'because I like money.'

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ageek123
Actually I read it more as "so I can donate to political causes to fight
Donald Trump."

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vierja
Evan Williams' post on the sale: [https://medium.com/@ev/why-im-selling-some-
twitter-shares-e5...](https://medium.com/@ev/why-im-selling-some-twitter-
shares-e5b81386a796)

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askafriend
Whether you believe his reasoning or not, I think it's an entirely valid
reason to sell. He needed cash, his entire liquidity is in $TWTR. What else is
he going to do if he needs personal cash, take a loan?

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aianus
> What else is he going to do if he needs personal cash, take a loan?

If he believed in the stock, why not?

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Vinalin
You could still run into issues. Imagine twitter stock crashed and you took
out a large loan, you're still on the hook for that amount and now you don't
have any assets. I would also assume that the ventures that he claims to be
going into (charitable donations/VC funding) would require you to have the
assets in hand.

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cridenour
I'm curious why his profile says

> Medium member since Feb 2017

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bearcobra
They launched a subscription service which they call memberships last month.
If you subscribe your profile gets that style badge.

