Google Execs Bonus $6M, Despite Economic Downturn

Apparently, economic stagnation can't stop Google executives from getting their big bonuses.

According to reports, Google's top brass have accepted impressive hand-outs, ranging from $675,000 to over $1.6 million. This news comes only weeks after the search giant laid off over 100 employees.

The bonuses of four Google executives were made public yesterday when the search giant submitted its 8-K filing with the SEC. Although CEO Eric Schmidt and co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page were not awarded impressive bonuses, five other executives were handed a massive sum, totaling some $6,309,000. That's over six million dollars in bonuses awarded during what many consider to be the worst economic crisis facing the United States since the "Dirty Thirties," otherwise known as the Great Depression.

Retired Reyes Receives Lovely Parting Gift

The biggest bonus went to Google Executive Officer Jonathan Rosenberg, who received a staggering $1.638 million. Also high on the hog: Executive Officers Robert Eustace and Omid Kordestani, who each received the tidy sum of $1.376 million. Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette received $1.244 million, while former senior vice president and chief financial officer George Reyes, a man who isn't even with the company any longer, received $675,000. (Source: crn.com)

For the record, a Ferrari Enzo supercar costs about $650,000 -- and a used on at that. (Source: motortrend.com)

No one should be more upset with the bonuses than laid-off Google employees. Google has cut about one hundred recruiters and about forty people from its broadcast radio advertising arm so far this year.

In a blog post not long after, vice president of People Operations Laszlo Bock remarked, "Google is still hiring but at a reduced rate. Given the state of the economy, we recognized that we needed fewer people focused on hiring. Our first step to address this was to wind down almost all our contracts with external contractors and vendors providing recruiting services for Google."

Obviously, that's no longer easy to stomach for anyone, even as the company's stock sits at $320, less than half of the $747.24 recorded in November 2007. (Source: theregister.co.uk)