Google leaders sell about $500M shares

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., March 17 (UPI) -- Google Inc. leaders have sold more than $500 million of stock in the Internet search firm, but analysts say it is part of a pre-approved program.

The biggest sellers of the stock are Sergey Brin and Larry Page, founders of the Mountain View, Calif., company, but the sale in the past several months represents only a very small portion of their overall holdings, the Washington Post reported Thursday.

The stock sale, obtained from regulatory filings, is designed to insulate executives from claims they are timing sales based on confidential information not available to other investors.

The filings show that beginning in January, Brin sold a total of 1.03 million shares of Google, at prices ranging from a low of $180.25 to a high of $205.75. The sales raised $198.3 million, according to the filings compiled by Thomson Financial.

Page sold a total of 1.2 million shares, raising about $226 million, the Post reported. Eric E. Schmidt, the third member of the triumvirate that runs Google, raised about $65.8 million from his sale.