Google top trio execs take home $1 salary in 2008

Internet search giant Google Inc's top three executives — co-founders Larry Page, Sergey Brin and chief executive Eric Schmidt — have voluntarily taken only one dollar in salaries last year.

Internet search giant Google Inc's top three executives — co-founders Larry Page, Sergey Brin and chief executive Eric Schmidt — have voluntarily taken only one dollar in salaries last year.

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A latest filing by the company to the US regulator Securities and Exchange Commission stated, "Eric, Larry and Sergey have voluntarily elected to receive only nominal cash compensation. Their primary compensation continues to come from returns on their ownership stakes in Google."

Consequently, the company's top executives — Schmidt, Page and Brin — do not receive any salary or plan-based bonus other than one dollar per year, proxy statement filed by Google stated.

The filing added that as significant stockholders, the three executives' personal wealth is tied directly to sustained stock price appreciation and performance, which provides direct alignment with stockholder interests.

However, Schmidt has received $5,08,763 under the all other compensation category last year. Despite taking just one dollar in salary, Schmidt's total compensation in 2008 rose by about $28,203 from last year's $480,561.

Page and Brin did not receive any bonus this year but had taken 1,723 dollar each in bonuses last year, information available in the filing showed.