Google Execs' Fat Bonuses

Recession? What recession? While Google's engineers got smartphones in lieu of cash bonuses this year, the company's senior executives are doing just fine. In an SEC filing made public today, Google announced that some of its vice presidents got cash bonuses in excess of $1 million. Senior Vice President Jonathan Rosenberg snagged a sweet $1.64 million check. Vice Presidents Robert Eustace and Omid Kordestani walked away with $1.3 million each. Even George Reyes, the former chief financial officer who left the company last year, picked up $675,000. And his replacement, Patrick Pichette, cut himself a $1.2 million check after just five months on the job.

As always, CEO Eric Schmidt and co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page took no cash bonuses. But the fat numbers, while slightly smaller than last year's, are an indication that Google thinks its senior team has done a stellar job managing the pain of the recession. Google beat Wall Street's expectations for fourth-quarter profits in January, and while the stock is less than half what it was worth at its zenith, the company is still doing just fine. And since they hardly have to take federal bailout cash, they don't even have to apologize for their excess. Even in the worst of times, it's good to be Google.