Is Google’s Stock Split meant to consolidate power with the founders?

Seth Weintraub | Apr 17 2012 - 6:41 am PT

Yes, duh, according to the NYTimes. A few years ago, Page told Google biographer Ken Auletta:

“It’s stupid,” Larry Page, Google’s co-founder and chief executive, exclaimed about the prospect of splitting the company’s shares. “If you own 10 shares at $40 or one share at $400, it’s the same thing! You just need to know how to divide.”

That is actually true. The high price is simply a psychological barrier (you can buy any percentage of a Google stock obviously). So why the split?

But make no mistake, he wasn’t doing it for shareholders, who have long been pushing for a stock split to make Google’s shares a bit more affordable, given that they have been hovering around a whopping $650 each.

He was doing it for himself.