(Front Office Sports) — With Microsoft’s stock near its all-time high, CEO Satya Nadella cashed out half of his shares.

The sale, which happened over two days last week, earned Nadella around $285 million.

The CEO may have been motivated by a Washington state law which comes into effect next year that will tax capital gains held for over a year above the federal rate.

Under Nadella, the company has risen steadily to become one of the two largest publicly traded companies in the world, with a market capitalization of $2.49 trillion as of Tuesday. 

It has also signed technology partnerships with the NFL, Real Madrid, the PGA Tour, NASCAR, the Big3 basketball league, and the Special Olympics.

The company is seeking to grow further through metaverse software unveiled earlier this month, as well as gaming.

• “You can absolutely expect us to do things in gaming,” Nadella told Bloomberg, referring to the company’s metaverse ambitions.
• Xbox sales grew 166% year-over-year in the company’s fiscal Q1 of 2022, as Microsoft took in $45.3 billion in revenue.
• Microsoft is rolling out a feature on its Edge browser to enhance the visual clarity of games.

The company stated that Nadella, who has been CEO since 2014, “is committed to the continued success of the company, and his holdings significantly exceed the holding requirements set by the Microsoft Board of Directors.”

Nadella’s total fiscal 2021 compensation was nearly $50 million, and he made over $40 million the previous two years.