EchoStar (ECHO) 10% Owner Charles Ergen Receives 1.502M Share Gift

What Happened
Charles W. Ergen, reported as a 10% owner of EchoStar (ECHO), received 1,502,440 Class B shares on July 29, 2026. The Form 4 records the transfer as a gift/annuity distribution (price $0.00), reported on July 31, 2026. According to the filing (Footnote F9), the shares were distributed to Mr. Ergen as an annuity payment from the Ergen Two-Year July 2025 SATS GRAT (the "2025 July GRAT"); no cash was exchanged. Gifts/annuity distributions are not open-market purchases or sales and do not necessarily signal a change in insider sentiment.

Key Details

• Transaction date: July 29, 2026; Form 4 filed July 31, 2026 (timely filing).
• Transaction type/code: Gift/annuity distribution (G), reported as $0.00 per share.
• Shares transferred: 1,502,440 Class B shares moved from the 2025 July GRAT to Mr. Ergen.
• Post-distribution trust holding: The 2025 July GRAT holds 6,497,560 Class B shares after the distribution (Footnote F9). The filing does not state Mr. Ergen’s total individual holdings after this transfer.
• Trustee: Mrs. Cantey M. Ergen serves as trustee of the GRAT (Footnote F9).
• Conversion right: Class B shares may be converted into Class A shares on a one-for-one basis (Footnote F8).
• Ownership status: Mr. Ergen is a 10% owner (insider category) — this is owner-level reporting rather than an open-market trade by an executive.

Context

• Gifts/annuity distributions: These are typically estate- or trust-related transfers and do not reflect a market purchase or sale; they should not be interpreted as a direct trading signal.
• For retail investors: Focus on open-market purchases or sales for potential sentiment signals; distributions from GRATs are often routine wealth/estate planning events.