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Even the Masseuse is a Multimillionaire at Google
PCOL writes "The NY Times is running a story on how stock options that have given an estimated 1,000 employees at Google a net worth of $5 million each affects the culture at Google. Google gives each of its new employees stock options, as well as a smaller number of shares of Google stock, as a recruiting incentive. The average options grant for a "Noogler" (new Google employee) who started a year ago was 685 shares at a price of roughly $475 a share which at last Friday's close would be worth $128,000. But employees say Google is different from other large high-tech companies where the day's stock price is a fixture on many people's computer screens. "It isn't considered 'Googley' to check the stock price," said one engineer adding that it is also considered unseemly to discuss the price with other employees. And the masseuse? In 1999 Bonnie Brown answered an ad for an in-house masseuse at Google "on a lark" and after five years of kneading engineers' backs, she retired, cashing in most of her stock options to travel the world, oversee a charitable foundation she founded, and write a book, still unpublished, titled "Giigle: How I Got Lucky Massaging Google.""
*wink wink*
Its cool baby, i'm not a cop.
So basically, -1 troll/offtopic is really slashdots way of saying "I hate that you thought of something before me."
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Now, that's a happy ending
Dont get to greedy with the stock options, just before WorldCom went on its downward spiral some people were bragging about their options and what they were worth, some had been with the company for 10+ years, in the end they lost almost everything
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Thanks to the RIAA, I buy them used...
Web company. Billions made in advertising dollars. Founders making billions. Employees getting rich from stock options.
When this crashes it will be loud and hard. Hopefully you guys working at Google are going to do the smart thing and save as much money as you can while you can.
The truth is that many people working at Google are still passionate about Google and what it stands for. Now, it doesn't really matter what that is exactly. In the minds of Google employees there is something special about working at Google. Perception is everytihng.
Also, keep in mind that the stock price keeps going up. This isn't just because Google is cooking the books. They appear to be legitimate financially. As long as this is the case, many people -- even the millionaires -- will stay on board. I predict that once Google takes a serious financial hit, many will bail out. Ideals be damned.
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Maybe the reason why it's not done at Google to ostensibly check the stock price every day is out of embarassment over the fact that employees that join now will have to hope that their $700 options stay afloat while they may be more brilliant and their contribution more critical to the company than that of employees who join only one year ago.
I think that options are great for startup companies, which Google is not anymore, to compensate for the risk that the people who work in them do, and the fact that the contribution of early employees is by definition seminal to building a successful company. But for mature companies (which Google is now), it becomes too difficult to manage as a standard compensation system. How can you keep employees focused on their commitments if the cash bonus that you can afford to offer them at their annual review is dwarfed by the value of the stock options they already got just for being hired ?
I know you're an AC troll, but I've seen this attitude from many. How can you judge the worth of their stock (or their company) by the share price? What if there were only 1,000 shares outstanding, would they be worth $600 per share then? A company isn't under- or overvalued because of share price, it is because of its overall MARKET CAPITALIZATION, i.e. share price * #shares outstanding.
Google seems to be employing the same technique as Berkshire Hathaway (Warren Buffet), i.e., never split the stock. The benefits of doing this is that your stock price is less subject to the "churn" associated with dime-a-dozen 401(k) "day traders" who don't understand that $600 * 1 == $25 * 24.
I have no opinion either way on the value of Google stock as I haven't looked at the numbers, but it's viewpoints like yours (coming out of ignorance) that cause the boom and bust stories in the market. Find good companies at a good price run by good management (the unstated part of this is that to figure out these points, it needs to be a company in an industry you understand), then buy and hold until those factors change. That's all there is to it. Most investors don't have the patience to implement such a method, which is why you can be told how to make money and it still works. And if you doubt me, ask Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffet, and Peter Lynch how it worked for them.
Stock options keep you going when everything else is falling apart, baby! I stared at that little window for a straight 18 months, and LIKED it.
Sure, Mountain View aint Redmond; there are actually more reasons to go outside, but if Microsoft had been giving out free food, I think I might have died under my desk, and my group manager just covered up my body and sprayed perfume on it until we shipped.