Google pays CEO a buck

The breakdown disclosed in a regulatory filing Wednesday consisted mostly of stock awards that could ultimately be worth more or less money, depending on how Google's stock price fares in the future. Google also paid all four of the executives besides Page and Brin their maximum bonuses to reward them for their accomplishments during a year that saw the Internet search leader's stock price and earnings rise by 10 percent from 2011.

Page and Brin, who co-founded Google in 1998, have capped their salaries to $1 since the company went public in 2004. It's a symbolic gesture that other top Silicon Valley executives such as Apple Inc.'s late CEO Steve Jobs, and Yahoo Inc. co-founder Jerry Yang have made after amassing fortunes through the stock that they held in their respective companies.
Page, 40, and Brin, 39, are Google's two biggest stockholders, with stakes that are each currently worth about $20 billion.
Meanwhile, other Google executives are still looking to build their fortunes.
Last year's biggest windfall went to Nikesh Arora, who oversees the advertising sales that generated most of Google's $50 billion in revenue last year.
Arora's compensation package was valued at $46.7 million, including $10.8 million cash bonus to supplement his $650,000 salary. The bonus included an $8 million discretionary payment that was boosted by a decision to cancel some of Arora's stock awards in exchange for $4.7 million in cash, according to the Google proxy statement inviting shareholders to the company's June 6 annual meeting at its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters.

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