Google Inc. reportedly paid its top three executives a token 2006 salary of $1 each for the third year running, and bonuses of $1,723 apiece, according to the company’s annual proxy.

Published: 09 Apr 2007

Google Inc. reportedly paid its top three executives a token 2006 salary of $1 each for the third year running, and bonuses of $1,723 apiece, according to the company’s annual proxy.

“The funny-money pay-package belies the source of the wealth of co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and CEO Eric Schmidt, who together own 56.1 percent of the voting stock of Google, which has a market capitalisation of nearly $150 billion,” reported Reuters.

The total amount Google paid Chief Executive Eric Schmidt and co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin during 2006 would have been less than $5,200 if not for personal security and transportation costs, according to documents filed Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Schmidt’s package totaled $557,466, including $532,755 for personal security and $22,456 in taxes Google paid for those occasions when he flew friends and family on the company plane. Page’s pay totaled $38,519, with most of the money covering personal transportation, logistics and security. Brin’s 2006 pay consisted solely of a $1 salary and $1,723 bonus. Google paid the same $1 salary and $1,723 bonus to Schmidt and Page.

The three had requested during the second quarter of 2004 -- in the run-up to Google’s initial public offering -- that the company cut their salaries to $1. The spectacular success of Google’s IPO turned each of them into billionaires.

Previously, both Brin and Page had been paid a salary of $150,000 a year, while Schmidt received $250,000 in salary.

“Last year, Brin and Schmidt made more than $2 billion combined from their Google stock sales, according to data compiled from SEC filings by Thomson Financial. Brin sold 1.99 million shares for a total of $788 million last year while Page pocketed $666 million by selling 1.72 million shares. Schmidt cashed out 1.39 million shares during 2006 for a total $580 million,” reported media.

It added, “Google’s stock price rose by 11 percent last year, a gain that lagged the Standard & Poor's 500 index - a blue-chip bellwether the company joined during 2006. The S&P 500 rose by 13.6 percent last year. Since its IPO, Google shares have surged to a more than fivefold increase, a meteoric performance that has created more than $120 billion in shareholder wealth. Google shares fell $1.58 to $471.02 during Wednesday's trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market.”