Google CEO Sells Shares Worth 13 Billion Won and Receives 260,000 RSUs

On March 4, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) disclosed that CEO Sundar Pichai, under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, sold 32,500 Class C shares on the open market at prices between $302 and $305 per share, generating approximately $99 million (about ₩130 billion) in proceeds. Simultaneously, he received 265,001 Class C restricted stock units (RSUs) at no cost, which will vest monthly through early 2029. According to the same SEC filing, Pichai continues to hold substantial economic exposure to Alphabet shares—including direct and trust-held interests and Class A common stock—even after this transaction.

On April 1, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Amie Thuener O’Toole sold 617 Class C shares under her established 10b5-1 plan at roughly $289.63 per share, yielding about $178,700 (approximately ₩230 million). Despite the sale, she maintains her overall position in Alphabet through remaining Class A and Class C shares and a significant number of unvested Google stock units (GSUs). Earlier, on March 25, a portion of Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler’s GSUs vested, resulting in the acquisition of around 11,430 newly vested Class C shares; a similar number of GSUs were immediately used to cover tax withholding obligations, reflecting routine equity compensation vesting and related tax-settlement transactions.

In its February 4 earnings release for fiscal Q4 2025, Alphabet reported revenue and earnings that exceeded Wall Street expectations—driven by strength in artificial intelligence and Google Cloud. The company reaffirmed its plan to significantly expand AI infrastructure investment, setting 2026 capital expenditure guidance at $175 billion to $185 billion (roughly ₩227 trillion to ₩240 trillion). Alphabet’s share price has experienced volatility amid legal headwinds and heightened AI-investment optimism; as of early April, it traded in the $280–290 range, down from its 52-week high of $343.69 in February.

Alphabet Inc. is the U.S. Big Tech holding company behind Google Search, YouTube, Android and Google Cloud. Since its transition to a holding-company structure in 2015, the company has expanded around online advertising, cloud computing and AI. Sundar Pichai has served as CEO of both Alphabet and Google since 2019 and is spearheading the next phase of growth with the Gemini AI model series and large-scale data-center investments.