Best Buy Co. founder and chairman emeritus Richard Schulze will sell an undisclosed amount of stock over a six-month period, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Shares in Best Buy fell about 1.5 percent in early trading Tuesday in reaction to Monday's disclosure.
Schulze, who owns more than 70 million shares, or 20 percent of the world's largest consumer electronics retailer, will reduce his holdings over predetermined times between October and next March. The sales, the first time Schulze has sold Best Buy stock in six years, will be sold in varying amounts on the open market at prices subject to an undisclosed minimum price threshold.
Under the plan, Schulze will have no control when the stock gets sold, a tactic designed to prevent company insiders from trading on nonpublic material information.
The sale "is part of his personal long-term strategy for asset diversification and liquidity," the SEC filing said.
A company spokesman declined to comment. A source close to the situation said the founder wants to use the money to strengthen the balance sheet of his family foundation, which will focus on K-12 education and medical research.
"He has made very clear his desire to fund his nonprofit Family Foundation and initiate funding to the founders' updated estate plan," the source said.
It isn't clear how many shares Schulze will ultimately sell. But the founder, Best Buy's largest shareholder, previously told the Star Tribune that he plans to gradually expand the size of his $100 million family foundation to about $1 billion. Hitting that goal exclusively through stock sales would require a significant reduction in his ownership stake, currently valued at $2.5 billion.
