Bill Gates increases his share of Six Flags
Posted
Co-Founder of Microsoft and one of the world's richest men, Bill Gates, has increased his share of Six Flags, Inc. from 8.6% to 10.2%. He now owns 9,460,020 shares of Six Flags common stock through his investment vehicle, Cascade Investment, LLC.
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You know, I think that this could be a good thing. I would think that someone with that much investment would have a certain influence on the board. Bill Gates doesn't like to lose, so I doubt he'll sit back and allow for poor results like we've seen this year.
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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"Let's stop saying 'don't quote me,' because if no one quotes you, you probably haven't said a thing worth saying." - Dogma, KMFDM
Bill Gates must see the potential of Six Flags. One bad quarter doesn't mean that it will continue.
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Bob Hansen
A proud CoasterBuzz Member
Operation Wicked Twister - Goal: Lose 50 lbs by next season to ride it! (updates soon)
While all the financial experts around here keep predicting that "the sky is falling" for Six Flags, one of the richest men in the world keeps snatching more and more of their stock.
Guess who's opinion I value more? :)
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www.coasterimage.com
Dorney Park visits in 2002: 16
If you own that much, the stock could go up $1 and you'll make ten million dollars. Or considering he already lost so much on Six Flags, by buying more he can increase his odds of breaking even if it just goes up a little bit more but not necessarily to where it was earlier this year.
Actually, you don't know if he gained or lost anything, because he didn't disclose what the buying price was. Generally speaking I doubt you'll pay market price when buying 10% of the company.
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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"Let's stop saying 'don't quote me,' because if no one quotes you, you probably haven't said a thing worth saying." - Dogma, KMFDM
Sorry, but I don't see how that could be. One of the criticisms of Six Flags is that they have lawyers and financial people up top and not people that have years of experience in the amusement industry. Bill Gates buying stock might be good, but Bill Gates probably has about as much clue of how to run an amusement park as Gary Story or Mr. Burke have of how to write Windows applications! :)
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-Matt
2001 Magnum Crew
Hello!
Bill has increased his stock because:
1. With the Six Flags endorsement in RCTIII, which is bound to big hit, there'll be more bucks for Bill.
2. Anyone see Zoo Tycoon?, hmmm can MS RCT be far behind ...
3. An hour away from most major US cities ... me see some future 'synergy' events ... like Disney has been doing with its ABC shows lately.
4. Why else did we get X-mania at Six Flags the past few years ... hmmm XBox , XP, ActiveX, DirectX, duh?
5. If it makes money, he's there! If you build, he will come.
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If Lifes a Rollercoaster, I want a Flawless
Six Flags doesn't get a dime for selling RCT, I can assure you of that.
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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"Let's stop saying 'don't quote me,' because if no one quotes you, you probably haven't said a thing worth saying." - Dogma, KMFDM
:because he didn't disclose what the buying price was.
This is true, I don't know what Bill originally paid for his 6% of the company - however considering PKS hit a two year low about a week ago it stands to reason that he PROBABLY originally paid more than $4 or $5 a share for his outstanding stake in the company. In that case he PROBABLY lost a noticeable bit of chump change in the short-term, and he feels that the stock has hit bottom and can't go any lower so why not buy more and wait for it to eventually rise - which in the long run averages his winnings and losings to come out even (if it rises at all, which it probably will) and perhaps make daddy some money. In the worst case, he sunk some money he could afford to lose in a mismanaged company - big deal. *** This post was edited by Fierce Pancake on 8/28/2002. ***
Since when has the owner of a company been required to know anything at all about that company.
Bill Gates, almost regardless of how much of the company he owns (realistically, he'll probably never get more than 15% or 20%), will have nothing to do with the day-to-day running of the company. Sure, his say in what happens with the money will be more heavily weighted than smaller shareholders, but that's really his only involvement with the development of Six Flags as a company.
Six Flags' short term future isn't as promising as everyone would like it to be, but as long as people want fun, then Six Flags will be around. As pointed out, Six Flags isn't run by seasoned veterans of the amusement industry. Maybe in the long term, that's a benefit to them. As is with all things long term - only time will tell. :)
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So what if the best coaster in Australia is a second hand Arrow?
I strongly disagree. Gates might not have much to say but his investment company might. There are only two other companies that own more PKS, and not by much. It's not uncommon for large investors to get involved with the executives and the board, or even try to get a representative on the board.
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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"Let's stop saying 'don't quote me,' because if no one quotes you, you probably haven't said a thing worth saying." - Dogma, KMFDM
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