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Google Trio Made 20-Year Partner Pact

Investors worried about FCC bid, but honchos are thinking long-term

By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 31, 2008 2:40 PM CST
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(Newser) – Google’s top three honchos made a pact just before their 2004 IPO to stay together at the search behemoth for at least 20 years. News of the informal agreement—which one analyst called “really very, very positive”—comes as investors fret about the company's bids in the FCC auction of the 700 MHz spectrum, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Google stock has fallen 22% the past month as shareholders worry that bidding for the spectrum—which could lead to a competitive wireless Internet market, upping Google's ad revenue—will cost the company at least $4.6 billion. A spokesman who discussed the pact said the execs are long-term thinkers; indeed, the 2004 IPO prospectus stressed “the fortitude” to make short-term sacrifices.

Google co-founder Larry Page, left, and Chief Executive Eric Schmidt, right, walk the exhibit hall almost unnoticed at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008. Google does not have a booth at CES. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Google co-founder Larry Page, left, and Chief Executive Eric Schmidt, right, walk the exhibit hall almost unnoticed at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008. Google...   (Associated Press)
Umbrellas are seen outside the Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., Monday, Dec. 10, 2007. U.S. antitrust regulators approved Google Inc.'s $3.1 billion purchase of DoubleClick Inc. Thursday, Dec. 20, 2007, removing a key obstacle to a formidable combination in the burgeoning online advertising sector. (AP Photo/Paul...
Umbrellas are seen outside the Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., Monday, Dec. 10, 2007. U.S. antitrust regulators approved Google Inc.'s $3.1 billion purchase of DoubleClick Inc. Thursday,...   (Associated Press)
Google CEO Eric Schmidt, top left, and co-founders Larry Page, right, and Sergey Brin, front, are seen at company headquarters in this Thursday, Jan. 15, 2004 file photo, in Mountain View, Calif. The trio of billionaires who run Google Inc. collected less than $600,000 in combined compensation last year...
Google CEO Eric Schmidt, top left, and co-founders Larry Page, right, and Sergey Brin, front, are seen at company headquarters in this Thursday, Jan. 15, 2004 file photo, in Mountain View, Calif. The...   (Associated Press)
Chairman and CEO of Google Inc, USA, Eric Schmidt takes his place during a working session at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Friday Jan. 25, 2008. Buoyed by a burst of optimism from Bill Gates, business and government leaders attending the World Economic Forum were set Friday to...
Chairman and CEO of Google Inc, USA, Eric Schmidt takes his place during a working session at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Friday Jan. 25, 2008. Buoyed by a burst of optimism from Bill...   (Associated Press)
Google co-founder Sergey Brin walks the exhibit hall almost unnoticed at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008. Google does not have a booth at CES. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Google co-founder Sergey Brin walks the exhibit hall almost unnoticed at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008. Google does not have a booth at CES. (AP Photo/Paul...   (Associated Press)
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