Hyperblaze
Lifer
SAN FRANCISCO - The trio of billionaires who run ? and own much of ? online search engine leader Google Inc. reduced their individual salaries to $1 last year and rejected a recent attempt to give them a raise, according to documents filed Friday.
Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and the company?s chief executive, Eric Schmidt, dramatically lowered their salaries last spring ? right around the time that the Mountain View-based company filed its plans for a much-anticipated initial public offering of stock that made their paychecks largely irrelevant.
Before the concessions, Google paid Page and Brin an annual salary of $150,000 apiece. Schmidt collected a $250,000 annually before lowering it to a buck. In the months leading up to the pay cuts, Page and Brin each collected $43,750 of their former salaries while Schmidt pocketed $81,432, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Last month, Google disclosed that Page, Brin and Schmidt weren?t paid a bonus last year except for a $1,556 holiday reward paid to all company employees.
Foregoing a regular paycheck isn?t difficult for Brin, Page and Schmidt because they own two-thirds of the company?s highly prized stock.
Page and Brin each own a 27.8 percent stake worth $7 billion while Schmidt?s 10.6 percent stake is worth $2.7 billion.
All three men already have reaped big windfalls by selling a small portion of their holdings since Google completed its IPO at $85 per share last August. The company?s shares declined $1.71 to close at $192.05 Friday on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Despite the immense wealth of their leaders, Google?s board offered to raise their salaries earlier this year and make them eligible for a 2005 bonus. Page, Brin and Schmidt declined.
Schmidt apparently isn?t having trouble making ends meet. In February, he bought a corporate jet that he leases to the company for $7,000 per hour ? a below-market rate, according to the company?s evaluation. Google has agreed to reimburse Schmidt up to $2.1 million this year for using his jet.
My question is...why on earth would they do this?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7435698/
Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and the company?s chief executive, Eric Schmidt, dramatically lowered their salaries last spring ? right around the time that the Mountain View-based company filed its plans for a much-anticipated initial public offering of stock that made their paychecks largely irrelevant.
Before the concessions, Google paid Page and Brin an annual salary of $150,000 apiece. Schmidt collected a $250,000 annually before lowering it to a buck. In the months leading up to the pay cuts, Page and Brin each collected $43,750 of their former salaries while Schmidt pocketed $81,432, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Last month, Google disclosed that Page, Brin and Schmidt weren?t paid a bonus last year except for a $1,556 holiday reward paid to all company employees.
Foregoing a regular paycheck isn?t difficult for Brin, Page and Schmidt because they own two-thirds of the company?s highly prized stock.
Page and Brin each own a 27.8 percent stake worth $7 billion while Schmidt?s 10.6 percent stake is worth $2.7 billion.
All three men already have reaped big windfalls by selling a small portion of their holdings since Google completed its IPO at $85 per share last August. The company?s shares declined $1.71 to close at $192.05 Friday on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Despite the immense wealth of their leaders, Google?s board offered to raise their salaries earlier this year and make them eligible for a 2005 bonus. Page, Brin and Schmidt declined.
Schmidt apparently isn?t having trouble making ends meet. In February, he bought a corporate jet that he leases to the company for $7,000 per hour ? a below-market rate, according to the company?s evaluation. Google has agreed to reimburse Schmidt up to $2.1 million this year for using his jet.
My question is...why on earth would they do this?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7435698/
