Insider Trading: Google stock enriches VC Doerr

SINCE 2004 IPO, SHARE SALES HAVE TOTALED 1.1 MILLION

By Chris O'Brien
Mercury News

Much of the attention that venture capitalist John Doerr has drawn in recent months has focused on his environmental advocacy and investment in "green" technologies. But thanks to his investment in search engine powerhouse Google, Doerr in recent months has been quietly amassing the kind of green that Silicon Valley has traditionally favored.

Doerr, a partner at Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers, was one of the early backers of Google, an investment that has added to Doerr's legend of spotting big tech winners. His roster has included Amazon.com, Sun Microsystems and Intuit.

Since Google held its initial public offering of stock in 2004, Doerr, who sits on the board of directors, has sold 1.1 million shares to collect $423.2 million. Those sales included 242,550 shares sold for $98.1 million that Doerr controlled indirectly on behalf of KPCB and its clients.

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Insiders buying on the bad news

3 COMPANIES DRAW INTEREST FROM INVESTORS

By Chris O'Brien
Mercury News

Each week, this column typically looks at insiders who are selling stock or exercising options. But in recent weeks, there have been several notable cases of insiders making big stock purchases.

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Insiders: Execs cash in on Hyperion's sale

ORACLE PURCHASE GIVES BIG BOOST TO STOCK PRICE

By Chris O'Brien
Mercury News

There's nothing like news that a company is being sold to send its stock through the roof. Just ask Hyperion Solutions.

On March 1, Oracle announced it would pay $3.3 billion in cash to acquire the Santa Clara-based maker of business intelligence software. That works out to $52 a share, a big premium over the $42.84 the stock had closed at the previous day.

When the market closed after the announcement, the stock had jumped 20.4 percent to $51.57.

That jump proved to be good timing for two insiders at Hyperion who sold stock that same day, under prearranged trading schedules known as 10b5-1 plans.

Robin Washington, Hyperion's chief financial officer, sold 5,000 shares March 1 at a price of $51.75 per share to collect $258,750. By comparison, Washington sold 7,400 shares Feb. 23 for $45 to collect $333,000. Washington, who joined Hyperion in January 2006, still holds 24,253 shares that could be worth $1.26 million when the deal with Oracle closes.

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Insiders: Yahoo sales fell with share price in '06

By Chris O'Brien
Mercury News

The past year probably won't go down as the best ever in the history of Yahoo.
The Sunnyvale Internet giant couldn't seem to escape the shadow of its nemesis, Google. Yahoo's stock dropped almost 35 percent in 2006. A new advertising system designed to compete against Google was delayed. Yahoo reorganized and lost one of its top executives in the process.

Another indication of the tough year: Stock sales by insiders were way down. Insiders sold $175.2 million worth of Yahoo stock in 2006, a figure that includes a single sale of $33 million by Chief Executive Terry Semel. That compares to $514.1 million worth of stock sold in 2005 and $499.1 million in 2004.

Even if it was a down year in some respects, revenue still rose 22 percent to $6.4 billion. And two months into 2007, the stock is regaining some lost ground. By Friday, when it closed at $30.42, it was up 19.1 percent for the year.

Insiders have also been selling, though at a pace that would put them closer to 2006 than the previous two years.

So far in 2007, five insiders have sold $33.7 million in stock.

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