Cascade Investment, L.L.C.is an Americanholding companyand privateinvestment firmheadquartered inKirkland, Washington,United States.[2]It is controlled byBill Gates,and managed byMichael Larson.[3]More than half of Gates's fortune is held in assets outside his holding ofMicrosoftshares.[4]Cascade is the successor company to Dominion Income Management, the former investment vehicle for Gates's holdings, which was managed by convicted felonAndrew Evans.[5]
Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Investments Conglomerate |
Founded | 1995 |
Founder | Michael Larson |
Headquarters | , United States |
Key people | Bill Gates(Chairman) Michael Larson(CIO) |
Total assets | US$70 billion (2021) |
Owner | Bill Gates |
Number of employees | 100[1] |
Subsidiaries |
|
Larson reportedly directs Cascade's investments through Bill and Melinda Gates Investments, a firm that also manages the portfolios of theBill and Melinda Gates Foundationand other connected entities.[6]Larson accrued over the twenty years from 1995 an 11%compound annual return,[6]and as of 2014 had 100 employees working under his direction.[1]In 2021, Cascade drew attention due to allegations of toxic work environment caused by Larson.[7]
With 269,000 acres of farmland (which has been historically countercyclical to the stock market) being held through a wide network of shell companies, Cascade Investment is the largestfarmlandowner in the United States.[8]
Cascade has managed Gates' stake inCanadian National Railwaysince 2013.[9]This constituted one of the investment firm's largest holdings.[10]In 2022, the company sold $940 million worth of stocks, whittling Gates' stake down to 1.4 percent.[9]
Notable investments
editCompany | Ticker | Sector | Ownership % |
---|---|---|---|
Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts | Private | Hospitality | 71.25%[6][11] |
Ecolab | NYSE:ECL | Conglomerate | 25%[12] |
Canadian National Railway | Rail transport | 14.2%[13] | |
FEMSA | Beverage and Retail | [6] | |
Berkshire Hathaway | Conglomerate | 4%[6] | |
Strategic Hotels & Resorts | Private | Hospitality | 9.8%[6][14] |
Republic Services | NYSE:RSG | Waste management | 34.1%[15] |
Deere & Company | NYSE:DE | Agricultural, construction, forestry, outdoor power and turf maintenance equipment. OEM diesel and natural gas engine manufacturer. | 10.06%[16] |
Bunzl | LSE:BNZL | Distribution and Outsourcing | 6%[6] |
Carpetright | Private | Retail | 3%[6] |
Diageo | Beverages | 1.56%[17] | |
AutoNation | NYSE:AN | Car dealership | 14%[3][18][19] |
Microsoft | Nasdaq:MSFT | Software and Hardware conglomerate | 3.6%[3] |
Beyond Meat | Nasdaq:BYND | Food | [3][20] |
Ritz-Carltonin San Francisco | Private | Hospitality | [1] |
TerraPower | Private | Nuclear power | [3] |
Transformco | Private | Retail and real estate | Debt interest[21] |
Vroom | Nasdaq:VRM | Car dealership | [22] |
StorageMart | Private | Self-storage | [23] |
Signature Aviation | Private | Aviation Services | [24] |
References
edit- ^abcBort, Julie (September 20, 2014)."Meet Bill Gates' Investment Manager".Slate.RetrievedApril 3,2021.
- ^"Cascade Investment (Bill and Melinda Gates Investments (BMGI)) - Family Office, United States - SWFI".
- ^abcdeDas, Anupreeta;Karmin, Craig (September 19, 2014)."This Man's Job: Make Bill Gates Richer".The Wall Street Journal.RetrievedApril 3,2021.
- ^Miller, Matthew (March 5, 2008)."Gates No Longer World's Richest Man".Forbes.RetrievedApril 3,2021.
- ^Torres, Craig (March 7, 1993)."Convicted Felons Handle Gates Fortune".The Seattle Times.RetrievedApril 3,2021.
- ^abcdefghWarwick-Ching, Lucy (October 21, 2015)."Cascade Investment, Bill Gates' wealth manager".Financial Times.RetrievedApril 3,2021.
- ^Das, Anupreeta;Flitter, Emily; Kulish, Nicholas (2021-05-26)."A Culture of Fear at the Firm That Manages Bill Gates's Fortune".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved2022-12-28.
- ^Glaser, April (9 June 2021)."Bill Gates uses farmland as an investment outlet buying up potato, carrot and onion farms".NBC News.
- ^abDolan, Kerry A."Bill Gates Transferred Billions Of Dollars' Worth Of These Two Stocks To The Gates Foundation".Forbes.Retrieved2022-12-28.
- ^"Bill Gates Sells $940 Million of CN Rail Stock, Trimming Stake to 9%".Bloomberg.2022-05-13.Retrieved2022-12-28.
- ^"Four Seasons Hotels agrees to bid from Gates and Alwaleed".The New York Times.February 12, 2007.RetrievedApril 3,2021.
- ^Stych, Ed (May 7, 2012)."Bill Gates' stake in Ecolab could get bigger".American City Business Journals.RetrievedApril 3,2021.
- ^"Canadian National Railway Company | SC 13G".U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.December 31, 2019.RetrievedApril 3,2021.
- ^Gallun, Alby (August 10, 2015)."Could Bill Gates be the next owner of Strategic Hotels?".Crain's Chicago Business.RetrievedApril 3,2021.
- ^"Republic Services, Inc. | DEF 14A".U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.March 24, 2020.RetrievedApril 3,2021.
- ^"Deere & Company | DEF 14A".U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.January 8, 2021.RetrievedApril 3,2021.
- ^"See how @DiageoGB scores on #water stewardship in face of #climatechange in new @Ceresnews analysis".Feeding Ourselves Thirsty.Retrieved2021-04-13.
- ^Bort, Julie (Mar 20, 2019)."Bill Gates is $9.5 billion richer than he was a year ago, worth over $100 billion, but not just from Microsoft".Business Insider.RetrievedApril 3,2021.
- ^"Cascade Investment – Portfolio Holdings".Fintel.io.RetrievedApril 3,2021.
- ^Gunther, Marc (October 3, 2013)."The Bill Gates-backed company that's reinventing meat".Fortune.RetrievedApril 3,2021.
- ^Zumbach, Lauren (June 4, 2018)."Sears gets more time to repay lenders, including funds tied to CEO Edward Lampert and Bill Gates".Chicago Tribune.RetrievedApril 3,2021.
- ^"Vroom, Inc. | S-1".U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.May 18, 2020.RetrievedApril 3,2021.
- ^Herald, C. R. E. (October 14, 2020)."Bill Gates' Cascade Investment, GIC buy stakes in StorageMart".CRE Herald.RetrievedApril 3,2021.
- ^Calatayud, Adria."GIP teams up with Blackstone and Cascade to buy Signature Aviation".penews.Retrieved2022-04-19.
External links
edit- Business data for Cascade Investment, LLC: