Bill Gates Ditches Ethanol Investment
Seattle Post Intelligencer:
Slowly but surely, Bill Gates has been liquidating his stake in Pacific Ethanol.
Earth2Tech reports that Gates’ investment firm, Cascade Investment, has been selling off large chunks of stock at a big loss in recent weeks. And Neil Koehler, Pacific Ethanol’s chief executive, tells the Sacramento Bee that he is not concerned that the Microsoft co-founder is reducing his position in the company. Gates previously owned about 20%, though it is dropping into the 10 percent range, according to the Bee.
The Motley Fool notes the beating that some ethanol stocks have taken recently in part due to the food-versus-fuel debate.
Given Gates’ philanthropic efforts in the developing world, it could be a little touchy for the world’s richest man to be on the wrong side of that debate. Or, perhaps, Gates was tired of seeing the investment dwindle. Pacific Ethanol has lost more than half its value in the past year.
And, speaking of alternative fuels and food production, Monsanto Chief Executive Hugh Grant said today that the agricultural products giant plans to develop new corn and soybean plants by 2030 that produce twice the yield of current varieties.
“If we succeed in doubling yields, it absolutely changes the opportunity for food availability,” said Grant, according to the AP story. More.
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