The Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) share price has come under pressure on Tuesday.
In morning trade the provider of elastic interconnection services across data centres globally has seen its share price tumble 4% lower to $5.13.
Why has the Megaport share price tumbled lower today?
There appears to have been a couple of catalysts for today's 4% decline.
The first is general weakness in the information technology sector on Tuesday following a disappointing night of trade on Wall Street which saw the technology-focused Nasdaq index drop almost 1.5%.
Shares including Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX: APT), Altium Limited (ASX: ALU), and Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) have all dropped notably lower, leading to the S&P/ASX 200 Info Tech index falling 3% today.
Another catalyst for today's selling may be news that Megaport's founder and chairman, Bevan Slattery, has sold down his stake in the company.
According to an announcement released by the company this morning, Mr Slattery has sold 3.3 million shares (the equivalent of 2.46% of the company's issued capital) to institutional investors via UBS.
The sale of shares was underwritten at a price of $5.11, representing a discount of 4.5% to the last close price.
Despite this sizeable share sale, Mr Slattery continues to have a significant shareholding of 18,162,607 shares. This is the equivalent to 13.52% of the company's issued capital.
Why did he sell shares?
The release explains that Mr Slattery will be using the proceeds from the sale to fund early stage development of two new technology ventures.
He added: "It is my intention to remain a significant long term shareholder in Megaport and I am absolutely committed to the success of the Company. This means that I intend to keep my current shareholding in the Company for the foreseeable future, and certainly have no intention of selling any further shares in the next 12 months. I look forward to continuing to provide strategic direction and support to the Company well into the future."
Slattery isn't the only tech founder selling shares this week. The founder and non-executive director of Xero Limited (ASX: XRO), Rod Drury, is reportedly looking to offload $116 million of shares.
