Despite Criticism, Alphabet's Chief Legal Officer Earned $47M in 2018
Alphabet chief legal officer David Drummond was one executive accused of facing no consequences for sexual misconduct at Google in a New York Times report that sparked global walkouts from employees last year. His salary didn't change in the wake of the allegations, and he saw a massive 2018 stock award.
May 01, 2019 at 06:06 PM
3 minute read
The original version of this story was published on Corporate Counsel
Google parent company Alphabet Inc.'s chief legal officer made more than $47 million in 2018, according to a proxy statement filed Tuesday, despite internal criticism last year that he and other male executives at the company did not face consequences for sexual misconduct at work.
The Mountain View, California-based company said it did not have further comment on whether the allegations against Alphabet CLO David Drummond raised in a New York Times report last year impacted his 2018 compensation package.
In the October article, former Google legal department member Jennifer Blakely detailed her multiyear affair with Drummond in the mid-2000s, when he was still general counsel of Google and married. She claimed Drummond only informed human resources after she became pregnant, at which point she was told Google didn't approve of manager-subordinate relationships, and it was made “clear it would not be David” who had to leave the legal team.
Blakely switched to sales and, a year later, left the company. The stories shared by her and other women spurred a series of walkouts from thousands of Google employees at offices around the world demanding the company change its alleged culture of protecting men in power accused of sexual misconduct. On Wednesday, Google workers staged another protest over claims the company retaliated against employees who walked out last year.
Drummond did not see any change in salary in the wake of the allegations and walkouts. His salary has held steady at $650,000 for the past three years. He, like the other executives named in Alphabet's proxy statement, has not received a bonus or nonequity incentives in at least three years. In 2018, Drummond's “other compensation” totaled $19,585.
The vast majority of Drummond's earnings last year came in the form of stock awards, not uncommon for tech industry executives. But his stock awards are high for a CLO in any industry, coming in at $46,612,647.
That could be an attempt to make up for lost time. According to Alphabet's 2018 proxy statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Drummond didn't receive stock awards in 2017 or 2016. Alphabet's chief financial officer Ruth Porat received stock awards in 2016 and 2018. Chief executive officer Sundar Pichai was awarded nearly $200 million in stock in 2016 but hasn't received awards since.
Unlike Pichai and Porat, Drummond's executive title includes only Alphabet, not subsidiary Google. Kent Walker currently serves as Google's chief legal officer and senior vice president of global affairs, promoted from Google general counsel in August. Walker's compensation was not disclosed in Alphabet's proxy.
Drummond held the Google general counsel role from February 2002 to December 2005 and CLO role from December 2006 to October 2015 before moving to Alphabet. He's also served as Google's secretary and senior vice president of corporate development. Google was Drummond's first in-house legal role, joining the company from educational software company SmartForce, where he was CFO. He started his legal career at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, according to the proxy.
Read More:
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllRead the Document: 'Google Must Divest Chrome,' DOJ Says, Proposing Remedies in Search Monopoly Case
3 minute readOpenAI, NYTimes Counsel Quarrel Over Erased OpenAI Training Data
Meta Seeks Declaratory Judgment in VR Eyewear Tech Patent Infringement Case
Porsche's Venture Capital Arm Adds General Counsel From Clifford Chance
Trending Stories
- 1When Police Destroy Property, Is It a 'Taking'? Maybe So, Say Sotomayor, Gorsuch
- 2New York Top Court Says Clickwrap Assent Binds Plaintiff's Personal-Injury Claim to Arbitration in Uber Case
- 3'You Can’t Do a First Draft of Common Sense': Microsoft GC Jon Palmer Talks AI, Litigation, and Leadership
- 4About the Awards: Southeastern Legal Awards Q&A with Regional Managing Editor Michael Marciano
- 5Private Credit Boom: Miami’s Role as a Financial and Litigation Hub
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250