Eric Schmidt plans to sell about 2.4mln Google shares worth $1.5 bln

Washington, Feb 18 (ANI): Google's executive chairman Eric Schmidt is planning to sell up to 2.4 million shares of stock worth nearly 1.5 billion dollars.

Schmidt, the Internet search giant's former CEO, disclosed his plans in a regulatory filing and intends to stagger the sales of the stock over a year.

The company said Schmidt, 56, was trying to raise some money and diversify his investment portfolio.

If all 2.4 million shares of stock are sold, that will reduce his stake in Google from 2.8 percent to 2.1 percent, Express.co.uk reports.

According to the report, Schmidt's decision to sell some of his shares comes ten months after he ended his a decade long stint as Google's chief executive and turned the job over to one of the internet search leader's co-founders, Larry Page.

Page and co-founder Sergey Brin filed plans to sell five million Google shares a piece in 2010. Those sales are due to be completed in 2015, the report said. (ANI)