Google CEO Sundar Pichai Hasn’t Received Any Equity Award In 2 Years

India-born Sundar Pichai — CEO of internet search giant Google since 2015 — who has been among the world’s highest-paid corporate executives for years, has not received a stock award or ESOP in last two years.

According to a report in Bloomberg, a key reason behind him not getting a stock award is his own reluctance. The India-born CEO has turned down a big new grant of restricted stock in 2018 as he felt he was already paid generously, the Bloomberg report said quoting a person familiar with the situation.

While there is no concrete reason behind Pichai’s turning down the big stock offer, experts say this could be an indication that he is leaving the company soon. However, a Google spokesperson has declined this speculation.

“The company and its directors have said nothing publicly about the CEO leaving any time soon. Pichai has never mentioned moving on either,” the Bloomberg report said.

In 2014, shortly before his promotion as Google CEO, he had received restricted stock worth about $250 million. He got $100 million worth of stocks soon after he became CEO in 2015. And in 2016, Pichai received another EPOS grant worth almost $200 million.

Since 2016, when he got the last stock award, Pichai received $6.5 lakh in annual salary from Google and typical CEO perks such as the cost of personal security. The Bloomberg report citing regulatory filings said as of Tuesday, he had 51,249 unvested Google shares, worth about $58.1 million. These shares will vest in June, September and December.

After taking over as CEO, Pichai has revived revenue growth at Google, helping shares of parent Alphabet Inc. jump more than 50% since he took over the internet company. However, the company’s recent performance has not been up to the Street’s expectation. The company missed Wall Street estimates last quarter and Pichai disappointed analysts on a recent conference call.

Meanwhile, Reputation Institute, a management consultant which had ranked Pichai first among major CEOs last year, has dropped his name out of the top 10 list.―Times Now