Execs file to cash in on bull run

Insiders ranging from @Home executives to Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen are planning to cash in some of their holdings, taking advantage of the seemingly unstoppable bull run the market, and tech stocks in particular, have experienced of late.

Allen filed to sell 2.7 million shares with a value of $236 million, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He made similar filings just a couple of months ago, laying out plans to sell 9.65 million shares, or roughly 5 percent of his 181 million shares in the software giant.

His proposed sale comes at a time when Microsoft has been slammed with a round of antitrust lawsuits--from both the Department of Justice and 20 state attorneys generals offices--that are historic in proportion. The Redmond, Washington, company's stock has fallen from the 100 range last month to around the mid-80s.

Thomas Jermoluk, chief executive of @Home, has filed to sell 150,000 of his shares in the high-speed cable Internet access provider, with a value of nearly $6 million, according to SEC documents filed this week. @Home shares have risen some 30 percent during the past month.

Other @Home executives are looking to cash in as well. Dean Gilbert, senior vice president and general manger of @Home, has filed to sell 60,000 shares with a value of nearly $2.12 million. David Pine, @Home general counsel, filed to sell 17,000 shares with a value of $633,000, and John O'Farrell, senior vice president of international operations, filed to sell 10,000 shares with a value of $414,250.

Executives with America Online also are looking to take profits.

Stephen Case, AOL chief executive, filed to sell 200,000 shares with a value of $18 million, and the Stephen Case Foundation filed to sell 50,000 shares with a value of $4.5 million. AOL's stock has more than doubled since the end of last year.

Robert Pittman, AOL's president and chief operating officer, plans to sell 50,000 shares valued at $4.5 million. The company's chief financial officer, Lennert Leader, filed to sell 40,000 shares with a value of $3.6 million, and Theodore Leonsis, president and chief executive of AOL Studios, plans to sell 10,000 shares valued at $867,500. AOL board member George Vradenburg III, meanwhile, filed to sell 32,000 shares with a value of $2.8 million.

Networking giant Cisco also has an executive looking to take advantage of a rising stock price. Selby Wellman, general manager for Cisco's InterWorks business unit, filed to sell 98,906 shares with a value of $7.4 million, according to a filing today. Cisco's stock has risen roughly 60 percent since the start of the year.

David McKittrick, chief financial officer for Gateway, filed to sell 50,000 shares with a value of $2.9 million, according to a filing last week, and the Norman W. Waitt Jr. Trust filed to sell 73,333 shares with a value of nearly $4.3 million, according to regulatory documents filed during the past two weeks. Robert Spears, senior vice president of Gateway major accounts, filed to sell 2,000 shares with a value of $110,000.

Gateway has not seen the same upside as some of its peers in the technology sector, as its stock has fallen roughly 17 percent during the past several weeks.

Amazon.com's vice president of business development, George Aposporos, filed to sell 14,000 shares with a value of nearly $1.3 million. Amazon's stock has edged down from the high 90s last month to the high 80s.

Michael Stonebraker, vice president and chief technology officer at Informix, plans to sell 30,000 shares, looking to collect $258,750. The company's stock has slid about 20 percent since the start of the month, when it traded around 10 a share. The shares took a further hit today after the company said it would have to restate its first-quarter results to reflect a net loss rather than a profit and a $6.2 million cut in revenues. The restatement stems from incorrect revenue recognition.

As the storage industry struggles along, William Watkins, executive vice president of disk drive operations and chief operating officer of recording media at Seagate, filed to sell 13,000 shares with a value of $346,840. The company's stock had shown signs of an upward swing from its low-20 range in January, but this month edged down from its near 30-range to the mid-20s.