Google’s founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin plan to sell five million Google shares each over the next five years, in a trading plan disclosed Friday in a regulatory filing.
The sales, if completed, would provide each of the founders $2.75 billion based on Friday’s closing price of $550.01.
The sales would bring the founders’ combined voting rights to just below 50 percent, 48 percent to be precise. But for all practical purposes, Mr. Page and Mr. Brin would continue to have effective control of the company. What’s more, Eric E. Schmidt, the chief executive, has an additional 10 percent of Google’s voting rights, giving the triumvirate absolute control over Google’s fate as long as they remain united.
Mr. Page and Mr. Brin own a combined 57.7 million shares of Google, so the sales represent 17 percent of their holdings.
In a statement, a Google spokeswoman, Jane Penner, said that the founders “are both as committed as ever to Google and are integrally involved in our day-to-day management and product strategy. The majority of their net worth remains with Google. These prearranged stock trading plans were adopted in order to allow Larry and Sergey to sell a portion of their Google stock over time as part of their respective long-term strategies for individual asset diversification and liquidity.”
The new sale plan follows a similar 18-month plan initiated in 2004 under which Mr. Page and Mr. Brin each sold 7.2 million shares each and Mr. Schmidt sold 2.2 million shares.
Under Google’s dual-class stock structure, the Class B shares owned by the founders and the chief executive have 10 votes for each share. Upon sale, they are converted to Class A shares with a single vote for each share.
