Google to pay Porat annual base salary of $650,000

[SAN FRANCISCO] Google said it would pay its new chief financial officer, Ruth Porat, an annual base salary of US$650,000 and a special one-time US$5 million sign-on bonus.

The company hired Morgan Stanley CFO Porat as its finance chief earlier this week, a sign it is aiming to rein in costs as it invests in new businesses such as self-driving cars and Internet-connected eyeglasses.

Ms Porat, who will join Google on May 26, will also get a new hire grant of US$25 million through restricted stock units and a US$40 million biennial grant in 2016, the company said in a regulatory filing on Thursday.

Google paid its outgoing CFO Patrick Pichette, who announced his retirement earlier this month, US$62.2 million for the three years through 2013, more than twice the US$29.6 million Porat earned at Morgan Stanley, according to regulatory filings.

Porat earned a base salary of US$1 million for 2013, according to Morgan Stanley's latest proxy filing. Her pay last year will be disclosed once the bank files its latest proxy.

Google said it would stop annual cash bonuses for senior vice presidents from next year and shift to a system that includes annual base salary and biennial equity grants.

REUTERS