Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page seem likely to give up majority control of their company in a share sale.
The duo will shed around 11 per cent of their stake in the search firm, from 59 per cent to 48 per cent, relinquishing control through majority voting rights.
PC Pro is reporting that Page and Brin are looking to shed the shares over the next five years, with the deal netting them over £3 billion at current share prices.
While they will be giving up majority voting rights, the CEO Eric Schmidt will still hold 10 per cent power in the firm, so the management team will still be able to shape the direction of the search engine's fortunes.
Committed
"They are both as committed as ever to Google," a spokeswoman told the BBC. "They are integrally involved in our day-to-day management and product strategy. The majority of their net worth remains with Google."
Brin and Page created Google in 1998, and have grown it into a brand worth over £13.5 billion in that time.
However the firm has been branching out into a number of new arenas in recent years, such as the Android search platform, so fresh investment and direction could be necessary to keep Google functioning at the sharp end.
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tech89
January 25th 2010
2. I can understand their decision.
Google is now treading into several different market sectors and requires people who are more adept to those market sectors.
They have made a fortune at an early age and can concentrate on their own lives now. They know they don't need majority control to still be an influence amongst the shareholders.
Or perhaps they feel Google is getting too large for them and they feel it's time to give some more control to others who have the leadership to take google to new heights.
As for the Chinese matter, well that'll brush past in a couple of weeks and no one will really care and they will forget about it.
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thehesh
January 25th 2010
1. Not to mention the fact that pulling out the Chinese market would have hurt their profit margins some!
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