Google Gives Eric Schmidt $100 Million In Stock

Google’s executive chairman has been awarded a massive reward package for recognition of the Internet giant’s recent successes.  The Interent giants have announced a bonus package worth a staggering $106 million, for its former Chief Executive Officer and current Executive Chairman, Eric Schimdt, as a gift offering for the company’s recent performance during the last year.

The package is made up of $100 million in restricted stock and a $6 million cash bonus. This bonus marks the second time in a three-year period that Schmidt, who according to Forbes is the 138th-richest person in the world with a fortune amassing $8.3 billion, has received an award of that amount.

The award was agreed on 29 January by Google’s board and made known in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Schmidt will receive the award, in equity, over a four-year period starting in May 2015 and he has received the $6 million bonus already.

Schmidt handed the reigns back to Google co-founder Larry Page in 2011, after a decade leading the Internet search giant. Schmidt’s current role as executive chairman allows him to focus primarily on government outreach and deals. He admitted recently in an interview with Bloomberg that he was personally to blame for Google’s massive failure to anticipate the importance of social networks, saying the company should have recognised the social trend much earlier, and promised it was “not a mistake we’re going to make again.”

The search engine giant’s most recent quarterly financial report has revealed its stock price rose a huge 58.4 percent in 2013, breaking the $1,000 mark for the first time, while annual revenue for Google increased a massive 21 percent to $55.5 billion.

Google have also announced the sale of the Motorola Mobility business to Lenovo for $2.91 billion (£1.76bn) and they are continuing to acquire other firms such as home thermostat manufacturer Nest (purchased for $3.2 billion/£2 billion) and artificial intelligence firm DeepMind (purchased for $400 million/£242million).

[Image via droid-life]

SOURCE: http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news/google-rewards-eric-schmidt-with-100-million-of-stock-138245