Selling at the bottom is for suckers, and Meta Platforms (META) -) CEO Mark Zuckerberg is being rewarded for his patience.
Zuckerberg sold Meta stock for the first time in two years, capitalizing on the stock's more than 150% jump over the past 12 months as the overhang from the company's expensive pivot to virtual reality seems to be firmly in investors' rearview.
His trust and entities for his charitable and political donations sold about 682,000 shares worth nearly $185 million in November through trading plans, Bloomberg reported citing data from regulatory filings. It was the first time since November 2021 Zuck has sold any shares.
Back then, Meta's stock was in the toilet, at its lowest point since 2015. Perhaps not coincidentally, the last time Meta's stock has sustained trading at its current level was November 2021.
Zuckerberg can expect to pay an Federal capital gains tax rate of nearly 24% and a California state tax (if you count his $37 million Palo Alto estate as his home residence) of 13.3%, according to Smart Asset's capital gains tax calculator.
Meaning Zuckerberg could be on the hook for as much as $68.6 million in capital gains taxes.
The move is weighing on Meta's stock Monday, sending shares down nearly 3% at last check in early market trading.
Zuckerberg was active in selling shares in 2021
Before his two year pause, Bloomberg notes that Zuckerberg was very active in selling his shares, unloading more than $1 billion worth of stock in 2021.
Zuckerberg still holds about a 13% stake in the company he co-founded, a stake that makes up the majority of his nearly $118 billion fortune, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Meta Platforms bled a lot of investor support when the stock was in the doldrums as investors questioned Zuckerberg's focus on bringing his company out of the social media age and into the so-called digital metaverse.
The stock went from an all-time high in late September 2021 to half of that level a year later.
Jim Cramer, the CNBC analyst who had stuck by Zuckerberg and Meta through thick and thin, finally had enough in October 2022. The man who's mantra for the company was "hold, don't trade" for years said he "I was wrong," for supporting the company a day after the company's stock dropped 25% in a single session
.@jimcramer: I was wrong to trust $META
— Squawk on the Street (@SquawkStreet) October 27, 2022
The tech giant’s Q3 results disappointed street estimates, sending the stock to its lowest levels since 2016. pic.twitter.com/Eg5d8q1XTv
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