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Sundar Pichai received $226M compensation, boosted by a triennial stock grant

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Re: Sundar Pichai received $226M compensation, boosted by a triennial stock grant

#291

I mean are you surprised by this? Companies do not exist for the benefit of labor, they exist for the benefit of shareholders. Why is this even considered news?

“they exist for the benefit of shareholders”

How does paying a CEO so much money benefit the shareholders? Do you honestly feel there aren’t millions of people that could do his job (and likely better) for a fraction of what he was paid?

Re: Sundar Pichai received $226M compensation, boosted by a triennial stock grant

#292
post #64

The upper management at Google are so lucky that the company is filled with timid people who are averse to change and didn't unionize. Now they can safely siphon the profits for another several years until they inevitably drive the company into the ground when the ad revenue dries up, and they move to similar positions at other places with healthy revenue streams. And the rank-and-file Googlers will defend this becau…

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Re: Sundar Pichai received $226M compensation, boosted by a triennial stock grant

#293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The definition of working class is making their income from selling their labor as opposed to from capital. Everything else is an implementation detail.

I think it’s pretty ignorant to think a staff software engineer at Google and the cleaning lady are in the same boat

It depends on how you define the boat. I think you can argue that in both cases continued servitude is the only way either of them can get food and a place to sleep indoors. There’s a big gulf of experience beyond that. But you can only form a coalition with someone on the basis of common ground. So while you’re both right, it’s not going to help either the cleaner or the engineer get better treatment if they don’t acknowledge similarities where they exist.

Re: Sundar Pichai received $226M compensation, boosted by a triennial stock grant

#294
post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not if you have a visa to worry about. Doesn’t matter how much money you have then. You need another job in 30 days or you and your entire family are at risk.

So, they can take their pile of cash and return to their native country and live like kings?

No, because they’ve established a life in the new country. They might have spouse or children. Forced moving js traumatic.

Re: Sundar Pichai received $226M compensation, boosted by a triennial stock grant

#295

I simply don’t see what good this CEO has done. He’s destroyed googles reputation with developers. Destroyed customer trust in Google products. Done nothing to fix googles reputation for terrible customer service. Led Google to third place in cloud computing. AND been thrashed by Microsoft / ChatGPT, putting Googles core business at risk. Why is this guy CEO?

GPT-4 can pass the Amazon Interview in a few minutes.

Perhaps having a good reputation with developers won't be as important in the upcoming years.

Re: Sundar Pichai received $226M compensation, boosted by a triennial stock grant

#296
post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He has been CEO since 2015. Would it be a stretch to blame him for the current company culture of nurturing new products left and right just to kill them off after 3-5 years?

>>> current company culture of nurturing new products left and right just to kill them off after 3-5 years? This predates Sundar's stint. Reader was only the first one, but this culture of killing products is in Google's DNA itself.

My impression is, Sundar has perfected it? I remember the post the other day that listed all the products that were killed over the years, that has been going on for a while. It would be interesting to see products launched vs. products killed, and average lifetime of products.

Re: Sundar Pichai received $226M compensation, boosted by a triennial stock grant

#297

I simply don’t see what good this CEO has done. He’s destroyed googles reputation with developers. Destroyed customer trust in Google products. Done nothing to fix googles reputation for terrible customer service. Led Google to third place in cloud computing. AND been thrashed by Microsoft / ChatGPT, putting Googles core business at risk. Why is this guy CEO?

Sundar became CEO at a time when Google needed a leader who could build consensus across different product areas. Sundar was the right person for this role. Unfortunately Sundar is also relatively weak at setting a bold vision to ensure the company continues to grow and innovate, as Larry had done. So under Sundar the company has slowly shifted from being innovative to being very risk averse, incentivising not making…

You mean like between Google Brain and DeepMind?

Re: Sundar Pichai received $226M compensation, boosted by a triennial stock grant

#298
post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> He’s destroyed googles reputation with developers. He has? How did he do that? Literally, curious, first I've heard of it. > Led Google to third place in cloud computing. You don't need to be number 1 to make a profit. > AND been thrashed by Microsoft / ChatGPT, putting Googles core business at risk. I suspect you think google search is their core business. When it's ads. Also, just because Microsoft is ahead just…

> You don't need to be number 1 to make a profit. GCP is not profitable, though. Or at least, was reported as not being during this calendar year.

That's because they're doing the standard thing of spending tons on growth. Like nearly every company does.

Re: Sundar Pichai received $226M compensation, boosted by a triennial stock grant

#299
post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think he cares deeply about the company and its mission, he just lacks the ability to be a bold and decisive leader. This can be a good thing in some cases (he is good at building consensus for example), but can also be harmful.

A quick Google (natch!) suggests that the company mission is: “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Does he "care deeply" about this? If we look at the direction they've taken in recent years, and the products they've launched (and/or killed) - how many of them demonstrate a "deep care" about this mission? How many of them are even tangentially related to this mission? (…

Everything is branded for what it is not.

Google’s mission is to display ads on everything. Organizing information is just an optional side quest when it enables the former.

Re: Sundar Pichai received $226M compensation, boosted by a triennial stock grant

#300
post #138

If anything the issue is that Google remains vastly overbloated. The large tech companies have been hoarding very skilled people and letting their abilities atrophy, trapped by high pay. It’s bad for Silicon Valley, bad for the individuals, and bad for progress.

Bad for individuals? A decent number of them are able to retire at 35-40. That's awesome for individuals.

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