Top executives of Google Inc. have once again agreed to be paid annual salaries of $1 each in 2006, counting instead on stock options and grants of the company's volatile stock for their pay.
In a regulatory filing Monday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Web search leader said it had approved a base salary of $1 for Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt and its two co-founders and co-presidents, Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
The three were paid $1 a piece in salary during 2005.
The action -- which was approved by Google last Tuesday but only disclosed this week -- occurred ahead of the 14 percent decline in the company's stock price last week amid investor concerns over the Internet sector's growth outlook and revelation of a legal spat with the U.S. Justice Department.
But before anyone offers to spring for bus fare for Google executives, note that the 7 percent rebound in the price of the company's stock Monday alone means that Schmidt's shares had recovered $413.8 million in value during the one-day trading session, according to CNET's CEO Wealthmeter site. As a result, his total wealth in shares is roughly $6.3 billion.
On Monday, shares of Google almost fully recovered from Friday's sharp sell-off. Bullish Wall Street analysts argued that Google continues to gain market share that may insulate it from any slowing of the overall market.
The practice of paying the top Google executives $1 per year in base salary started in the second quarter of 2004, during the run-up to the company's initial public offering in August 2004, according to the company's regulatory filings.
Previously, Schmidt had earned $250,000 and Brin and Page had been paid about $150,000 in salary, even as they accumulated stock options that have made them billionaires, at least in the potential value of their shares and options.
Four additional executives received a 43 percent increase in their base salary, to $250,000 from $175,000 in 2005, according to the company's latest regulatory filing.
They include Chief Financial Officer George Reyes; legal counsel David Drummond; Omid Kordestani, sales chief and developer of Google's original advertising business; and Shona Brown, senior vice president of business operations.
