Google chairman to sell $2.5 bn of shares
WASHINGTON— Google’s Chairman Eric Schmidt plans to sell 3.2 million “A” shares, currently worth $2.5 billion, over the next year, Google said Friday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The sale amounts to 42 percent of Schmidt’s 7.6 million Class A and Class B shares in the company, a 2.3 percent stake in the company, but 8.2 percent of voting power.
The sale is part of a pre-arranged trading plan for Schmidt’s “long-term strategy for individual asset diversification and liquidity,” according to the filing.
Article continues after this advertisement“Using this trading plan, Eric can diversify his investment portfolio and can spread stock trades out over a period of one year to reduce market impact.”
Google’s share price climbed 1.5 percent Friday to a new all-time record of $785.37, putting the value of the shares Schmidt will sell at $2.51 billion.
In its September 2012 billionaires list—when Google shares crossed the $700 line for the first time— Forbes ranked Schmidt 138th in the world, with his fortune worth $7.5 billion.
