Another run from Wall Street finalized with negotiations reached. Google Inc. has agreed to pay Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat more than $70 million after she begins in May, ranking her among the highest paid CFOs in the business.
Porat who will be resigning from her position as the CFO of Morgan Stanley will receive a signing bonus of $5 million along with a $25 million stock grant this year that will continue through 2017 says Google, after as of a regulatory filing on Thursday. In addition, the CFO is entitled to a $40 million biennial stock grant in 2016 and a salary base of $650,000 annually.
Patrick Pichette, current Google Inc. CFO announced he would step down this month. Porat is expected to leave Morgan Stanley sometimes in April and replace Pichette the following month on May 26th. Google said it would pay Pichette pro-rated outstanding equity grants that were set to vest in 2016 and 2018 to ensure “that he continues performing in the role until such time as Google determines that there has been a smooth transition to the new CFO” said a spokesperson for the company.
Porat was paid $40.3 million after her first four years serving as chief Financial Officer of Morgan Stanley. Her total pay for last year has not yet been disclosed. The powerful female CFO owned 920,000 Morgan Stanley shares amounting to $32.7 million as indicated by regulatory filling.
As Porat joins the great Wall Street migration to Silicon Valley, she will undertake the rivalry against Google’s competitors like Apple, Inc. and Facebook Inc. With over 25 years at Morgan Stanley, Porat should bring better fiscal discipline to the company so; Google can cut costs in order to invest in new businesses.
Other ex-wall street executives have enjoyed the same pay raise on the west coast. Anthony Noto, Twitter Inc. CFO received a one-time stock award of 1.5 million restricted shares vesting over four years amounting to nearly $65 million last July. He served previously as a top banker at Goldman Sachs and the CFO of the National Football League.
The rush to the west is in part due to the lure of an overwhelming number of start-ups turning into gold mines practically overnight. Years of financial insecurity on Wall Street has redirected young college graduates to more promising avenues in “the golden state”. Robert Reffkin, who left Goldman Sachs in 2012 after 7 years to create his own real estate star-up Compass said, “Smart people go to where they feel there is the most growth.”
In a statement released last Tuesday, after Porat’s appointment was announced, Google Chief Executive Officer Larry Page said “We’re tremendously fortunate to have found such a creative, experienced and operationally strong executive.”
