Nokia chief executive and former Microsoft executive Stephen Elop, who has sealed a tie up deal with the US giant, this week swapped all of his Microsoft shares for Nokia stock, reports said today.
'On Thursday, Elop bought 150,000 Nokia shares for €1m,' the financial daily Kauppalehti reported, adding that this was the first time Elop had bought Nokia stock.
According to the newspaper, Elop said insider trading rules prohibited him from buying Nokia stock earlier as negotiations were underway with Microsoft on a strategic partnership.
Elop, a Canadian, left Microsoft for Nokia last September, becoming the first non-Finn to captain the world's largest mobile phone maker. Last Friday, Elop said that Nokia, hit by harsh competition from Apple and Google, would dramatically shift its strategy and abandon its own smartphone platforms to adopt Microsoft Phone.
Nokia's share price plummeted after the announcement.
The shares purchase makes Elop the third largest shareholder among Nokia's leadership, behind board chairman Jorma Ollila and executive vice president Mary McDowell.
