As news stories go, there have been more interesting ones than an employee not switching companies. However, rumors indicated that Twitter was courting Google’s Sundar Pichai, and in order to keep him – which Google has – Google likely had to lay out a significant sum of money.
To set the scene: Sundar Pichai has been with Google for almost seven years. Currently, he serves as a vice president of product management, and he’s also in charge of Chrome and Chrome OS. So Pichai’s very much an important person at the company.
Now, to delve into the (non)recruitment issue, Liz Gannes reported, "Pichai, who is Google’s VP of product management in charge of Chrome and Chrome OS, had been Twitter’s top pick after longtime VP of product Jason Goldman stepped down last month . . ."
Later, Gannes added, "While I haven’t been able to nail down what exactly Google paid to keep Pichai, it was apparently a significant increase to his previous compensation package."
That could translate to hundreds of thousands of dollars, or even several million. Which is perhaps a win for Google, considering that the company was willing to offer it, but also a sign Twitter’s becoming more of a threat when it comes to poaching employees.
It sounds like friends of Pichai’s should congratulate him (and ask him to buy the next round), in any event.