Flog $5.5 billion worth of shares
Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are giving
up some of their control of Google in return for huge wodges of cash.
Under a plan announced to Wall Street the long-time chums
will flog 5 million Google shares in a five-year period that will begin with
the first trade. Apparently the sales will occur periodically to lessen
the chances of hurting Google's stock price. Page and Brin will lose some of their clout with the
company but will still be Google's most influential shareholders.
The pair own a special class of Google stock that gives
them combined voting power of about 59 per cent - enough to override the wishes
of all other shareholders if they want. However after they flog off the shares they will only
have 48 per cent voting power. However they run Google as a ruling triumvirate
with the company's chief executive, Eric Schmidt, whose shares hold 10 per cent
voting power.
Of course everyone knows that triumvirates usually end up
with a dagger in the back under the statue of Pompey. Schmidt, Page and Brin have agreed to remain at Google at
least through 2024.