Clean Energy (CLNE)

[Jld3294]

You have to have a career in estate planning (I am a CFP) to understand the reasoning behind Boone selling (some shares of) CLNE.

At death - all stocks that Boone owns will receive an automatic step up in basis based on the price at the date of his death.

So if he owns 1M shares of Walmart at $5- when he dies his heirs will receive a new cost basis at the current market price.

Boones cost average of CLNE is around $8 based on a blended purchases over time. If he holds these shares through death, there is no benefit to his heirs because there is no step up. But if he sells now, he can collect the immediate tax loss to pass more on to heirs.

If this guy wasn't so old I'd say he's cashing out. But he's a billionaire and his stake in CLNE is just very small in his net worth so he's doing what's smart to prevent the money from going to Uncle Sam.