By Rolfe Winkler
It's good to be Google Inc.'s chief financial officer.
Ruth Porat, who said Tuesday that she would leave her job as
Morgan Stanley's finance chief to take the same role at Google,
will receive around $30 million in salary, restricted stock and
bonuses for her first seven months of work.
That would make her one of the highest-paid CFOs in the U.S. In
2013, the last year for which data are available, only Oracle
Corp.'s then-CFO Safra Catz received more compensation, at $43.6
million.
She'll also make more than most Wall Street CEOs, including her
old boss, Morgan Stanley Chief Executive James Gorman, who was paid
$18 million in 2013. Morgan Stanley hasn't reported Mr. Gorman's
2014 compensation yet; The Wall Street Journal reported in January
his 2014 pay package increased from the prior year.
Among big banks that have reported CEO compensation for 2014,
Citigroup Inc. said Michael Corbat made $14.5 million and Bank of
America Corp. said Brian Moynihan made $15.3 million.
A California native, Ms. Porat is getting a substantial raise to
come home. In 2013, she earned $10.1 million at Morgan Stanley. Ms.
Porat begins her new job May 26.
Her total pay package includes a base salary of $650,000 as well
as a $5 million one-time signing bonus, and $65 million of stock
grants. The stock grants are broken into two buckets: a $25 million
new-hire grant that will vest over the next three years as well as
a $40 million grant next year that will vest through 2019.
Google's outgoing finance chief, Patrick Pichette, received
compensation of $5.2 million in 2013 and $38.7 million in 2012,
including stock awards. Google grants large stock awards to top
executives every other year. Google hasn't yet filed its proxy for
2014.
Google investors reacted positively to the announcement of Ms.
Porat's hiring, driving up the company's shares 2% on Tuesday. They
are hoping for a more disciplined approach to expenses at a company
that is investing in everything from residential Internet
connections to self-driving cars. Investors are also hopeful that
Google will decide to return some of its $64 billion cash pile in
the form of dividends or stock buybacks.
In a securities filing, Google also said it changed Mr.
Pichette's compensation agreements so that some equity awards vest
more quickly.
Some of the outgoing CFO's equity grants were due to vest in
April 2016 and April 2018, when he is likely to have left Google.
The company changed this so he will be able to sell a portion of
the stock sooner.
One restricted stock award was granted on April 4, 2012 and was
due to vest on April 25, 2016. That was worth $33.9 million at the
end of 2013, according to Google's 2014 proxy statement. If Mr.
Pichette leaves Google this April, he would get roughly three
quarters of this award, worth just over $25 million based on the
price of Google's shares on Thursday.
Google said it made the changes to ensure Mr. Pichette
"continues performing in the role until such time as Google
determines that there has been a smooth transition to the new
CFO."
Alistair Barr contributed to this article.
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