Google Executives Paid Salary of $1

The financial reports for the 2006-year at Google have been released. The reports show that the company paid its top three executives a salary of just $1.

However, this minuscule salary won't affect the co founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin nor the company's chief executive Eric Schmidt in the slightest. These guys have an interest in Google that is worth billions. The combined value of the three executives share value totalled $31.5 billion dollars at the end of 2006.

The Google executives were also given pay in other forms of compensation that went largely toward their personal security. Eric Schmidt received $555,742 dollars and Larry Page received $36,795 dollars. There are some pretty nice perks thrown in as well for the three Google executives, such as, the use of the company's private plane. Each executive was also awarded a bonus for 2006 of $1,723.

This is the third year in a row that the salary for Google's top three executives has been just $1. Google filed the yearly accounts for 2006 yesterday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The idea of paying the three Google executives a salary of $1 was mentioned in 2004, just before Google went public. The public offering of Google turned each of the executives into billionaires. Prior to the salary cut each Google executive received a normal salary for someone in their positions. Eric Schmidt received $250,000 dollars a year while Sergey Brin and Larry Page each received a salary of $150,000 dollars a year.

Page, Brin and Schmidt each held a significant amount of shares in the company. Page had 28.2 percent of shares that were valued at $29.2 billion dollars, Brin had 27.7 percent of the shares, which were valued at $28.6 billions dollars, and Schmidt has 10.3 percent of shares, valued at $10.7 billion dollars.

Google's annual shareholder meeting will be held on May 10th at the company's headquarters in Mountain View, California.

Google began at the end of the 1990s in a Stanford University dorm room, when the founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin were students at the school. The pair soon created the world's best search engine and are enjoying more success than they could have ever imagined back in the days of working from their dorm room. Sergey Brin is only just 33 years old and Larry Page just 34 years old. Last month the pair were listed at number 26 on Forbes list of America's richest people.

Sources
http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2050247,00.html
http://business.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=525172007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6527509.stm