Google execs dump stock fortune

[Cage Rattler]

Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are selling shares in their company at a rate of $US22 million a week.

Wondering why your investment in Google has lost 18 per cent since the shares peaked at about $US475 in January?

Relentless stock sales by the internet search company's executives might be to blame. Its managers have dumped a truckload of stock since February 14, 2005, the expiration date of the biggest and final restriction on insider sales following its initial public offering.

As of August 9, they had sold almost 23 million shares. That means Google's top executives offloaded about $US7.4 billion of stock, equal to about a third of the company's starting market value when it sold shares at $US85 each in the August 2004 IPO.

It is remarkable that not one Google insider has bought a share of the company in the 18 months since the IPO lock-ups expired, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from the Washington Service, which tracks insider sales. (ex Bloomberg)

[Ohene]

who woundn't?

$$$$

[gemini181]

"It is remarkable that not one Google insider has bought a share of the company..."

King Goo seems to be worried about the future.

[fsmedia]

What's your source to this information?

[gemini181]

(ex Bloomberg)

Looks like the biz wire, or site, Bloomberg.

[fsmedia]

Can you provide a link to the article?

[sholiz]

That's interesting actually, I remembered something how they were trying to raise cash to finance some NASA project.

[Lightning-Software]

I heard that the % of insider stock sold is higher than enron exec's before the crash.

[Cage Rattler]

Originally Posted by fsmedia

Can you provide a link to the article?

Article link.

[Mia]

When valuing any company, private or public, I always ask one question. What are your assets.

Ask that question, and you have your answer.

[routed11]

Ive noticed this as well when I was checking stock's yesterday. You can goto yahoo finance and look at the insider transaction stats.

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/it?s=GOOG

[Cage Rattler]

World's 10 richest Tech Titans compiled by Forbes business magazine /// Azim Premji, chairman of Wipro, has been placed at the sixth position with a net worth of 13.3 billion dollars, ahead of Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and founder of German business software major SAP Hasso Plattner. Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who has renamed the world's richest man for 12 consecutive years, tops the list of richest tech titans with a net worth of 50 billion dollars.

Other IT titans in the list include Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen at second position with net worth of 22 billion dollars; Dell founder Michael Dell at third position with a net worth of 17.1 billion dollars; Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison at fourth rank with 16 billion dollars and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at fifth position with net worth of 13.6 billion dollars.

[tbarr60]

When a stock takes off and is the stock to have, that is the time to sell. It's overvalued and eventually it will settle into a price according to the industries range of price earnings ratio.

I would be more concernced if they didn't sell. It would show a lack of wisdom.

[aletheides]

Theres no way google is failing - just because the execs are selling doesn't mean google is going down.

[wizardofx]

Originally Posted by Cage Rattler

Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are selling shares in their company at a rate of $US22 million a week.

Wondering why your investment in Google has lost 18 per cent since the shares peaked at about $US475 in January?

Relentless stock sales by the internet search company's executives might be to blame. Its managers have dumped a truckload of stock since February 14, 2005, the expiration date of the biggest and final restriction on insider sales following its initial public offering.

As of August 9, they had sold almost 23 million shares. That means Google's top executives offloaded about $US7.4 billion of stock, equal to about a third of the company's starting market value when it sold shares at $US85 each in the August 2004 IPO.

It is remarkable that not one Google insider has bought a share of the company in the 18 months since the IPO lock-ups expired, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from the Washington Service, which tracks insider sales. (ex Bloomberg)

I have to think that your post is less than honorable. You are
distorting the statistics to make a mountain out of a molehill.

The market cap is $114 billion. Insiders owned $42 billion worth of stock.
They have sold off $8 billion worth. Why shouldn't they be able
to? Everything is up-front, most of it automatic.

Microsoft fell 20% between May and mid July, why weren't
you complaining about that?

[Mia]

Microsoft has Assets.

Google has?

Do the math... The stock is completely over valuated.

Reminds me a lot of those days when (according to AOL's stock price) the average dialup user was worth approx $4486 EACH!

[daboss]

Originally Posted by Mia

Microsoft has Assets.

Google has?

Do the math... The stock is completely over valuated.

Reminds me a lot of those days when (according to AOL's stock price) the average dialup user was worth approx $4486 EACH!

exactly... the only thing that google's hanging on to is the high entry barrier into the serach industry...

innovation and technology is over-rated since it only takes a spark of brilliance for the next person to come up with something to compete with google's...

[GeorgeB.]

Originally Posted by tbarr60

When a stock takes off and is the stock to have, that is the time to sell. It's overvalued and eventually it will settle into a price according to the industries range of price earnings ratio.

I would be more concernced if they didn't sell. It would show a lack of wisdom.

Exactly what I was going to say. When they went IPO everyone was chattering about how rich they were. They weren't rich, they just happened to own some very highly valued stock. NOW they're rich.

Until you sell the stocks they're just stocks. Not money. The stocks they are selling are their personal share of the company. It's their money!

[qwestcommunications]

Its not unusual for original founders to decrease holdings gradually but still maintain a large stake.

[soniqhost.com]

Wall St puts a premium on growth and google is growing, Its growing faster then Microsoft, ebay and Yahoo. Also they have about $10 billion in cash.

Originally Posted by Mia

Microsoft has Assets.

Google has?

Do the math... The stock is completely over valuated.

Reminds me a lot of those days when (according to AOL's stock price) the average dialup user was worth approx $4486 EACH!