Bloomberg, Experts Say Steve Jobs’ Heirs Should Sell Apple, Disney Stock:

Steve Jobs’ widow may never find a better moment to sell her late husband’s $6.78 billion of Apple and Walt Disney Co. stock.

Under federal law, Jobs’ heirs may sell Apple and Disney and avoid $867 million in capital gains taxes. If Apple’s late co-founder left his estate to his wife, Laurene Powell Jobs, the family won’t be liable for the 35% estate tax until she dies or gives money to others, according to estate planners. …

If Jobs had sold all of his Disney and Apple shares on Oct. 4, the day before he died, he would have registered a gain of about $5.78 billion and a tax bill of $867 million. … Under the law, the trust can sell the shares and incur taxes only on the appreciation since Jobs’ death – a gain of about $338 million. If Jobs had died in 2010, when there was no estate tax, his heirs would have faced the capital gains tax on his entire investment profit if they had sold. That provision lapsed in 2011 when the estate tax was reinstated. … From a tax point of view, this is the perfect time to diversify. …