Gates to pay $800,000 for breaking rules

WASHINGTON: U.S. antitrust regulators said that Microsoft Corp. Chairman, Bill Gates had agreed to pay $800,000 for violating pre-merger regulations in two past stock purchases.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said Gates had failed to properly notify antitrust officials about his acquisition of voting securities of Republic Services Inc. in 2001 and ICOS Corp. in 2002.

A representative of Gates could not immediately be reached for comment. The matter is unrelated to the landmark antitrust case the U.S. government settled with Microsoft in 2001.

Gates bought shares in trash-hauling company Republic Services in November 2001. The transaction put his holdings over a 10 percent threshold that required antitrust notification, the FTC said.

But Gates failed to notify antitrust authorities, believing he was exempt from the requirement because the acquisition was only for investment purposes.

Gates later made a corrected filing in the case, and the FTC declined to seek any penalties.

But six months later, Gates violated the rules again when he bought shares in ICOS, co-maker of the new impotence treatment Cialis, according to the FTC. Once again Gates thought he was exempt from the ruling.

The FTC said it sought substantial penalties for the second mistake.

"This case demonstrates the need to become fully aware of the reporting requirements of the HSR (Hart-Scott-Rodino) Act," Barry Nigro, deputy director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition, said in a statement.

© Reuters