Schmidt Leaving Google - Image: World Economic Forum (Flickr.com CC-BY-SA 2.0)
Departing Google CEO Eric Schmidt has a lot to smile about these days. According to a regulatory filing, Schmidt will receive a $100 million parting gift for serving as the CEO of Google since 2001. This is a tremendous jump considering he has claimed just $1 in salary since 2004 and has moved the company into a better global financial situation.
But things are not always so simple. Google has ensured that Schmidt will stay attached to the company for at least 4 years. The package that Schmidt received stipulates that he cannot cash out the options in total for four years. As such he will still hold millions in stock options even if he chooses to move on to a new company.
It is not clear if Google has forced a non-compete clause with Schmidt or not. With the knowledge of the search engine giant that he has rolling around in his head, he is likely to get picked off quickly if they did not force the non-compete. However, there is only a slim chance that he will actually move to another search engine.
Rumors continue that he was asked to step down because of the lack of effort that he has put into Google’s move into the social media market. Schmidt often downplayed the importance of a Google social networking offering and that has put the company well behind Facebook in terms of the entire social media industry which has exploded over the past couple of years.
