Eric Schmidt takes $1.45 billion of his Google bet off the table

There are two ways to interpret the news that Eric Schmidt is going to sell $1.45 billion worth of Google shares this year – his biggest annual disposal yet and first big sale in four years. Either he thinks the stock is looking pricey again or he is cutting some of his ties with the company.

Schmidt’s stock sale will see him shed 2.4 million shares – that’s more than a quarter of his remaining stake. True, he’s already sold 5.7 million shares since Google went public seven and a half years ago, but there are a couple of things that make this latest sale stand out: 1) This is his first big disposal since Google’s stock lost its mojo at the end of 2007 and 2) News of the sale comes less than a year after he stepped up to the post of executive chairman to make room for Larry Page as CEO.