Why is Bill Garner selling? Isn’t he an insider?William (Bill)...

Why is Bill Garner selling? Isn’t he an insider?

William (Bill) Garner was a founding director of RAC, and along with Dr John Rothman, was responsible for Zantrene’s rediscovery. He left the company in October 2020 to pursue other interests. Since then he has sold down from 15,462,653 shares to an estimated 5,690,155 as of 18 February 2022 (@wombat777 kindly provides estimates every so often). This has likely had a suppressive effect on the share price. So having left the company in 2020, he is certainly not an insider - but why is he selling? We can’t know for sure but there are a few possibilities:

1. Risk Mitigation. With so much wealth at stake it makes sense to reduce your exposure to risk regardless of the potential upside. Imagine you suddenly win $30+ Million, and are then given the chance to x10. Even with just a 10% chance of failure, it makes sense to take the majority of that $30 Million off the table. You could pocket $25 Million and still leave yourself open to triple that. The positive here is that BG may not sell down to zero.
2. He's a Startup Guy. It's pretty clear that his MO is for getting new ideas off the ground. He has even published a book called Garnering Capital specifically about raising funds for new startups. RAC was yesterday's toy and he can't sit still and let other opportunities pass him by (like his current focus Island Pharmaceuticals which listed on the ASX in April 2021). I think it's very possible that to BG, the cash currently tied up in RAC is worth more to him right now, than a larger amount down the road.
3. Spite. This is the least plausible reason in my personal opinion, but I’ve included it here as many people think this has at least some part to play. Having watched the prospects and share price of RAC explode so soon after his departure, he may feel a sense of bitterness against the current RAC management and potentially just wants to just sell out and move on.

We may never know for sure, but we do know he’s not selling because he has inside access to bad news, and we know it must eventually stop. From my perspective, BG selling is simply providing more liquidity for long term holders to accumulate shares at a discount.