New York (Platts)--16May2008

Microsoft founder Bill Gates has been selling off his stake in
beleaguered West Coast ethanol producer Pacific Ethanol, slashing the shares
held by his Cascade Investment company to 1.4 million from 10.5 million over
the last six months, according to securities filings.

Shares of Pacific Ethanol plunged more than 20% on November 19, 2007, a
day after Cascade filed to shed Gates' 20.55% stake in the company. At the
time, Raymond James analyst Pavel Molchanov called Gates "one of the most
visible investors within the ethanol arena."

High corn costs and planned new capacity is weighing down US ethanol
industry stock prices. Pacific shares are currently trading at just over $3
each, down from about $15/share a year ago. Pacific shares peaked in May 2006
at more than $40/share.

Earlier this week, Pacific said it expected to report a first quarter net
loss of about $36.2 million (93 cents/share).

--Beth Evans, beth_evans@platts.com