Google offers 30% pay hike to top execs

Internet search giant Google Inc has approved a handsome pay hike of 30 per cent and bonuses of 250 per cent of the base salary for its top executives starting next year.

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Google has approved an increase to the annual base salaries (effective as of January 1, 2011) of its executive officers, after a review of performance and competitive market data, and as part of a broad-based review of the company's compensation programs, it said in a regulatory filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Google said its four top executives - Patrick Pichette, chief financial officer, global business head Nikesh Arora, engineering-and-research chief Alan Eustace and product chief Jonathan Rosenberg- would each see their increase in pay from $500,000 to $650,000 next year.

This represents a rise of 30 per cent.

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While the base salaries of Chief Executive Eric Schmidt and co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin would remain at $1. The three executives do not participate in the executive bonus plan since 2004.

The four executive officers would also be eligible for bonuses of 250 per cent of their base pay, up from the current 150 per cent.

The company further said that half of the bonus would be based on the individual performance and the remaining 50 per cent would be based on internet search titan's financial performance.

Besides, executives will also get equity awards worth a total of $ 55 million this year.

Pichette and Arora will each receive equity grants worth $20 million and Eustace's is valued at $10 million and Rosenberg's at $ 5 million, the filing added.

The news comes days after several media reported that Google is planning to give a 10 per cent salary hike to all of its 23,000 employees across the world starting next year.

Google, which has a strong presence in India, has a workforce of about about 2,000 employees.