If you've been watching the stock market soar lately, and thinking, "I should be taking advantage of this," you're probably not alone. You're not, however, Sergey Brin.
The Google co-founder, we just learned, is taking full advantage, and why not? He is, after all, holding a boatload of stock in a company trading near $600 a share. And, we presume, he has a mortgage to pay off. And, there's the Tesla. You know, like the song says: Bills, bills, bills.
So, according to public data a few clicks away on the Internet, we see that Brin recently cashed in to the tune of $47.3 million worth of Google stock. Now, to be fair, people in his position with that many shares usually want to get rid of at least some of it, if for no other reason than to be more diversified in their financial portfolio. So, for all we know, Brin has re-invested that money in some other lucky company.
But some Google (GOOG) watchers aren't being that charitable. On the Yahoo stock message board for Google, "sooomeaty" opines that Brin's stock sale "doesn't show much confidence..." Yes, there's always the worry that when a big wig sells shares of his own company, it's because he sees storm clouds on the horizon. But I wouldn't worry. Brin owns many, many more shares. Maybe he just had a big tax bill to pay. All I know is that April 6 was a good day for Sergey. He unloaded 83,334 shares of his company's stock. That is, by the way, how you come up with a legal $47 million in a single day.
The next big day for Brin & Co.? That would be Thursday the 15t, when Google reports quarterly earnings. Google's stock price often moves a lot on earning day, so who knows? Maybe Brin will wish he held out a little longer.
