By MICHAEL LIEDTKE | Associated Press – Fri, Apr 20, 2012
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Shifting from Google’s CEO to executive chairman proved to be lucrative career move for Eric Schmidt.
Google Inc. awarded Schmidt a compensation package valued at $101 million last year, according to a Friday regulatory filing. The amount is 322 times higher than the $313,219 package that Schmidt received in 2010 during his final full year as the Internet search leader’s CEO.
Schmidt, 56, ended a decade-long stint as Google’s CEO last April and turned over the job to Google co-founder Larry Page.
Shortly before the change in command, Google gave Schmidt stock and stock options valued at nearly $94 million, according to the company’s proxy statement. Google had designed the stock and stock option package to be worth $100 million, but the compensation formula spelled out by securities regulators arrived at a slightly different calculation.
To top it off, Google raised Schmidt’s salary from $1 annually as CEO to $1.25 million as executive chairman. His 2011 salary ended up being $937,500 because he spent the first three months of the year in the lower-paying job as CEO.
The rest of Schmidt’s 2011 compensation consisted of a $6 million bonus and perks worth nearly $264,000. Schmidt deposited half of his bonus last year in a company plan that can defer payment for up to five years.
