Google dangles $70m before new CFO to lure her from Wall Street

It took a $70m golden hello to entice Ruth Porat – Google's new chief financial officer – away from her role at Morgan Stanley.

According to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the material terms of Ruth Porat's offer letter included not only an annual base salary of $650,000, but also a set of three grants worth $70m.

Porat received the first of these, a sign-on cash bonus of $5m, simply for turning up for work yesterday.

The Chocolate Factory moved quickly to fill the role following former CFO Patrick Pichette's decision to retire and go backpacking earlier this month.

Porat, who has said she is delighted to be returning to her California roots, is probably equally pleased to be granted $65m in Google Class C shares. The New York Times reports her total compensation at Morgan Stanley as $10m in cash and stock in 2013.

Notably, the Class C shares (GOOG) carry no voting rights, unlike the Class A shares (GOOGL) which are worth a single vote apiece. Class B shares, which are not traded publicly, are worth ten votes each, and are held by the founders of the Chocolate Factory, similar to how land titles are held by monarchs.

Additionally, the filing contained an announcement that Google is altering its compensation structure for senior veeps. Porat's offer seems in line with this new structure, which sees annual cash bonuses eliminated and biennial equity grants distributed alongside their annual base salary.

It also reveals that Patrick Pichette has not been able to go off gallivanting yet, having had his compensation arrangements altered "in order 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".

In other words, Patrick: "Don't forget, you're here forever." ®