VMWare shareholders: Who owns the most VMW stock?
The price of cloud computing firm VMWare (VMW) stock has surged since late May as rumours arose about the company’s acquisition by semiconductor giant Broadcom (AVGO). The deal, which is expected to complete in 2023, was valued at $61bn.
What does the acquisition mean for the firm’s shareholders and who stands to gain most? Here we take a look at the biggest VMWare shareholders.
What is VMWare?
VMWare is a cloud computing firm founded in 1998 by a group of tech-savvy individuals, including Diane Green, the firm’s first CEO. In 2004 the company was acquired by the EMC Corporation for $635m. EMC was later taken over by Dell Technologies (DELL), which later spin-off their 81% stake in VMware, forming two separate public firms.
Among the services VMWare provides are:
Application modernization
Cloud management
Cloud infrastructure
Networking
Security
In 2007 VMWare went public listing its Class A shares on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol “VMW”. In the past 10 years, the stock of VMWare produced gains of 176.6% (as of 7 November), outperforming S&P 500 and the US Tech 100 that generated 83.1% and 133.3% respectively.
What is your sentiment on VMW?
Who are the shareholders of VMWare?
According to VMWare’s latest annual report filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), 3,809 investors held the company’s common stock as of 15 March 2022.
The company said that a significant portion of shareholders held their shares with a brokerage firm, meaning that the number of individual shareholders may be higher than the one cited above.
Who are the VMWare biggest shareholders? VMWare’s most prominent investor is Michael Dell, the founder of Dell Technologies. Meanwhile, data from Market Screener, as of 7 November 2022, indicated that institutional investors, including Silver Lake Management, Dodge & Cox, The Vanguard Group and other firms, were listed as the top shareholders of VMWare.
All VMWare shares have voting rights, meaning that all VMWare shareholders have a say in the company’s affairs in line with the amount of stock they own.
Individuals who buy VMWare stock through a broker can appoint them as proxy, meaning that the broker can vote on their behalf. However, they can also opt to cast a vote on the company’s key decisions at VMWare shareholders meetings.
Largest VMWare shareholders among institutions
Silver Lake Management – 9.94%
Silver Lake Management is a California-based hedge fund that specialises in the tech sector. As of 30 June 2022, the fund managed $92bn in assets and pursued four different investment strategies. Back in 2016, Silver Lake helped Michael Dell in the acquisition of EMC Corp, and since then Silver Lake has been among the VMWare major shareholders.
Dodge & Cox – 6.63%
Dodge & Cox is a San Francisco-based financial services firm that offers an ample portfolio of mutual funds including equity-focused investment vehicles that specialise in the US stock market. As of 30 September, the Stock Fund (DODGX) and the Global Stock Fund (DODWX) – both managed by Dodge & Cox - owned approximately 18.79 million VMWare common shares.
The Vanguard Group – 3.03%
The Vanguard Group is one of America’s largest asset management firms, with over $8tn in assets under management (AUM), as of 30 September 2022. The firm offers an ample portfolio of mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and other passive investing solutions. Many of these vehicles hold shares of US companies such as VMWare. In addition, investors may opt to use Vanguard’s self-directed trading platform to buy VMWare stock. In these cases, Vanguard will act as custodian of the shares.
Swedbank Robur Fonder – 1.21%
Swedbank is a Sweden-based financial institution that operates an asset management unit called Swedbank Robur. By the end of the second quarter of 2021, the firm reportedly oversaw SEK 1,868bn ($170.5bn). According to the firm’s website, nearly 6% of the assets of the Technology fund were invested into VMWare stock. Meanwhile, its Global Impact fund also invested approximately 2.4% of its assets in the shares of the US-based tech company.
Who are major VMW shareholders among insiders?
The following individuals were considered VMWare biggest shareholders among the company’s insiders, according to data from GuruFocus as of 7 November. The list included the firm’s top executives and board members.
Michael Dell – 155 million shares
Rangarajan Raghuram – 264,642 shares
Zane C. Rowe – 181,465 shares
Sumit Dhawan – 96,880 shares
Jean Pierre Brulard – 79,124 shares
Data from GuruFocus showed that insiders owned around 37.3% of all outstanding common shares of VMWare. This elevated percentage of insider ownership is the result of Michael Dell’s role as Chairman of the Board of the clouding firm. The remaining shares were likely granted to insiders by the company via stock options as part of their compensation package.
Michael Dell
Michael Dell is the billionaire founder of Dell Technologies – one of the world’s largest manufacturers of personal computers and laptops. According to Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index, he had a net worth of $45.8 billion and was the 24th wealthiest person in the world as of 7 November.
Dell was listed as the biggest shareholder of VMWare as the company was the result of a spin-off from the firm he founded. Since Dell was the largest shareholder of Dell Technologies, he received a large number of VMWare stock.
Rangarajan Raghuram
Mr. Raghuram is the CEO of VMWare. He joined the firm in 2003 as a COO. Before joining VMWare’s, he worked at AOL and Netscape. Raghuram holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business in Pennsylvania.
Zane C. Rowe
Zane Rowe is CFO and Executive Vice President of VMWare. He is a seasoned executive, having occupied several leadership roles, including at Apple and Continental Airlines. Rowe has more than 20 years experience, and has served as a CFO at large corporations in the past.
Final thoughts
While it may be useful to know who owns the most shares of VMWare, it shouldn’t be used as a substitute for your own research. Always conduct your own due diligence, looking at the latest stock news, a wide range of analyst commentary, technical and fundamental analysis.
Remember, past performance does not guarantee future returns. And never trade with money you cannot afford to lose.
FAQs
How many VMWare shares are there?
According to the latest second-quarter earnings report from VMWare, the company had a weighted average of common shares outstanding of 424.13 million on a fully diluted basis. Data from MarketBeat, as of 7 November, indicated that the number of outstanding shares stood at 423.03 million.
How many shareholders does VMWare have?
According to VMWare’s latest annual report filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), there were 3,809 VMW shareholders of record as of 15 March 2022.
Who owns the VMWare company?
As of November 2022, the largest individual stockholder of VMWare was Michael Dell as a result of the spin-off of VMWare from Dell Technologies. Meanwhile, according to data from GuruFocus, approximately 37.7% of VMWare stock was in the hands of insiders (primarily Dell) and 28.8% were in the hands of institutions.
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