Google’s Eric Schmidt selling 2.4 million shares of stock worth $1.5b over the next 12 months

Some ten months after stepping down as Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt is preparing to sell off approximately 2.4 million shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1.5 billion. According to the SEC filing, Schmidt is selling these shares over the course of one year to minimize the market impact; Schmidt’s personal reasons for selling is long-term stock diversification and also to increase his liquid cash flow. Once the deal is complete, Schmidt will own approximately 6.7 million shares, which will represent 2.1 percent of all Google stock and 7.3 percent of voting power at Google — that’s down from the 2.8 percent of Google stock and 9.7 percent of the voting power. So while his influence may be diminished, he’s still a major player in Mountain View.