Fidelity National’s Foley: The $400 Million Man

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – William Foley, the man who built Fidelity National Title and its sister, Fidelity National Information Services, has been cashing out his stock at an accelerating rate as he expands his California winery. Foley, who said he was selling back more than $60 million shares in the two companies to help finance his winery expansion, earned $77 million last week when he cashed in 1.1 million FIS options at $15.63, then sold those shares and 500,000 more for an average of $48 each. Over the past month, Foley, who earned more than $200 million from last year’s separation of the two companies, has raised $160 million from the sale of shares in the two, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Separately, private equity giant The Texas Pacific Group, which helped capitalize FIS with a $500 million investment in 2005, sold about a fourth of its FIS stake last week–three millions shares for $140 million–leaving it with a stake of 9 million shares valued at about $425 million.