March 21 (Reuters) - Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc's largest stakeholder, Sequoia Fund, said it sold about 1.5 million shares of the company's stock last week, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb Inc, which runs Sequoia, told the Journal that the Valeant shares were sold to reduce investor taxes by booking capital losses. (http://on.wsj.com/1UzKtVx)

The shares were bought in October, Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb's executive vice president, David Poppe, told the Journal.

In January, Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb, long known for its ties to Warren Buffett, was sued by shareholders who claimed it recklessly took a huge stake in the embattled drug company Valeant, causing more than $2 billion in losses.

Valeant, a target of a securities investigation and under scrutiny for its pricing and accounting practices, said on Monday that its longtime chief executive officer was leaving just three weeks after returning from a medical leave.

Ruane, Cunniff could not immediately be reached outside of regular business hours.

(Reporting by Amrutha Penumudi in Bengaluru; Editing by Matthew Lewis)