Microsoft Corp co-founder Paul Allen has sold off all his remaining shares in DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc, according to a securities filing this week, ending his involvement in a company he helped launch more than a decade ago.
The billionaire invested US$500 million ($971 million) in DreamWorks SKG
when it launched as a combination live action and animation studio in October 1994. Allen's remaining stake was worth about US$123m, according to an Associated Press calculation, although it is unclear when last year he sold his shares.
Shares ranged between US$20.39 and US$32.73 last year.
DreamWorks Animation, the studio behind the Shrek and Madagascar franchises, went public in 2004 in large part to begin repaying Allen's investment.
Its sister company, privately held DreamWorks SKG, is still run by director Steven Spielberg, and recently signed a distribution deal with the Walt Disney Co.
Allen had been reducing his investment in the company since at least August 2007, when he sold 10 million shares plus another tranche worth US$150 million, and resigned from the board.
The stock was then trading around US$30, meaning to date Allen likely made his money back plus more.
In October, DreamWorks Animation said David Geffen, who co-founded DreamWorks with Spielberg and DreamWorks Animation Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, was stepping down from the board but would continue to serve as a "trusted adviser" to the company.
Katzenberg and Geffen continue to control nearly 70 per cent of the voting rights in the company.
DreamWorks Animation declined to comment.
- AP
