Google's Stock Split: Good For Shareholders?

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.(TheStreet) - Google's(GOOG) decision to offer an unusual stock split last night left some scratching their heads. The decision may not be such a bad thing, though.

Google announced that it would be creating a new class of stock, effectively issuing a stock split that is "designed to preserve the corporate structure that has allowed Google to remain focused on the long term."

On the conference call, CEO and co-founder Larry Page said that many investors have asked for a stock split, and this effectively grants it to them. This, however, isn't the traditional stock split, in that Google is creating a third class of stock that will have no voting power. Google already has class A and B shares.

CEO Larry Page

It allows Page, co-founder Sergey Brin, and Chairman Eric Schmidt to maintain the majority of voting power in the company, something the Internet giant noted in the founders' letter. "The main effect of this structure is likely to leave our team, especially Sergey and me, with increasingly significant control over the company's decisions and fate, as Google shares change hands...," the letter said.

There is, however, a "stapling" requirement. This means that, above set thresholds, if the founders and Schmidt's economic interest in Google declines, their votes will as well.

Not everyone, though, has been won over over by Google's move. Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney, for example, even called the split "odd" in a research note. Nonetheless, Page and Brin note the "structure will also make it easier for our management team to follow the long term, innovative approach emphasized earlier..." In other words, the co-founders and Schmidt are committed to Google in the long run, and they want Google to be focused on the long term, not the short-term demands of Wall Street.