back to article Google sacks Eric Schmidt memo leaker

Google has fired the employee who leaked the Eric Schmidt memo announcing a 10 per cent pay raise for the company's entire staff, according to a report citing multiple anonymous sources. So, that pay raise isn't going to everyone after all. CNNMoney reports that within hours of the memo being leaked to Business Insider and …

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  1. solid gold suleyman
    Paris Hilton

    "The brightest, most capable group of this size ever assembled."

    as compared to say, The Manhattan Project.

    Paris, because she's on probation

    1. Far Canals

      Well

      Probably fewer people on the MAnhattan project, which probably makes them brighter still.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Now, who's more evil?

      The folks who made the atom bomb, or Google…?

      1. Code Monkey

        @Who's more evil?

        Now i am become Google the destroyer of privacy

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Look upon my database, ye mighty

          and despair

  2. Bob Prentice

    So who leaked

    the second memo saying the leaker of the first memo had been sacked

    I can see this running and running

  3. Graham Marsden
    Grenade

    "Within hours...

    "... Google notified its staff that it had terminated the leaker, several sources told CNNMoney."

    And then they terminated the "several sources" who had leaked that fact to CNN Money and then...

  4. Shannon Jacobs
    Big Brother

    Google is going evil

    However, I think the rampant spamvertising on YouTube and the eager support of spammers in Gmail are the best evidence of the rising tide of evil at Google.

    On the other hand, at least Google didn't (yet) contribute much to the rules that drive so-called successful companies to evolve in the direction of ever increasing evil. I don't even blame the shareholders. I think primary blame belongs to the legislators and lawyers who sold their souls to the greediest and most selfish among us. The good guys just never cared that much about gaming the system for another buck.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Adverts drive you mad?

      Then get your free online videos somewhere else then. Oh wait...

  5. Eddy Ito
    Big Brother

    Clearly

    Not everyone got a pay raise, perhaps a lump of coal to keep warm while he's on the blacklist.

  6. JaitcH
    Happy

    (Now has) "The brightest, most capable group of this size ever assembled." ...

    after firing the leaker.

    I wonder if he used his Gmail to send the memo?

  7. Herby

    Would Google hire...

    Eric Schmidt. Given the current hoops that applicants are required to jump through, it doesn't look like he would qualify as the "brightest...".

    Of course, he also gets the raise.

  8. James Woods

    isn't that nice

    Theres alot you can do when your dodging paying millions in taxes isn't there?

    I guess the do no evil also means don't support the country that's making you wealthy.

    At the end of the day google could still disappear overnight.

    It's a search engine and an advertising company.

    I know they have other projects, I love my new android but without adwords paying the bills google would be gogo out the door.

    Just think what you could do personally with an extra 30-40%+ of your salary back in your pocket.

    If each state taxed google based on the amount of income google is taking from the state it would really be mindblowing.

    The rich get richer, the states go broke and the people sit back and watch.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      @James Wood

      Seems a bit harsh to blame Google for what is, in effect, the way that Corporate America works.

      And, Google is used worldwide, not just in the States. I imagine a lot of their income (perhaps > 50%) comes from the ROTW. How do you propose taxing that?

      And 30-40% more salary- what are you talking about there?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Err...

        If you stand up and proclaim that you're not going to do evil, you shouldn't expect to be let off with massive tax avoidance "because everyone else was doing it". As for taxing the income from the rest of the world, Google sell products in the rest of the world, I'd expect them to pay, rather than avoid, local taxes where they're supposed to pay them, just like any other (non-tax-avoiding) multinational.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Death and Taxes

          Who said anything about tax evasion? Google does use some creative accounting to filter their revenue through a few low tax countries, but that has nothing to do with this. The bonus thing just means that Google will pay enough extra to cover the tax. So say it would be $10 in tax on a $1000 bonus, Google will pay the $10 extra so their take home bonus is $1000.

  9. The Fuzzy Wotnot
    Coat

    "leaker had been terminated"

    Urgh, make me feel rather queasy....

  10. mego

    Considering Eric's well-known attitude about privacy

    Surely he could have just changed his name?

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    Way to go....

    ...Google get good publicity and goes someway to restore the "do no evil" fairy tale and then they prove they are just as shit as every other business.

    Hope it was a UK employee because I see an ugly unfair dismisal case on the horizon.

    Where if the bloody evil Google icon?

    1. Gareth.
      FAIL

      RE: Way to go....

      That was my thought - why fire the guy? He's given you some free publicity that suggests Google Inc. is a nice employer (I wish mine gave me a 10% bonus that it then added to my base salary) and they turn around and sack him.

      What exactly is Google embarrassed by about this whole affair? Why feel the need to 'terminate' the fella?

      1. Someone Else Silver badge
        WTF?

        Why, indeed

        "What exactly is Google embarrassed by about this whole affair? Why feel the need to 'terminate' the fella?"

        Well, several ideas come to mind...but in the end they all boil down to, "It's a company private matter, you see, and you all know how we at Google feel about our privacy...."

        Oh...

        Wait....

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Google = Apple?

    ...wow, they've adopted the same puritanical black-or-white approach to leaks as Apple...

    I wonder when they'll all start wearing black turtlenecks and talking about their 'magical' products?

    1. MrCheese
      Alert

      Well he has already said...

      Schmidt's already said that he feels it's a place where "magic happens", just keep an eye out for Google fruit-branding in the near future!

  13. Paul M 1

    Title

    Most likely the leaker failed the "most brightest" test by leaking a confidential memo in such a way that they could get caught!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Thumb Up

      got caught...

      Either that, or the guy who actually leaked the memo was out to get the guy who got terminated. It does seem like an effective way to get someone out of the way if you want their job, or if they're making your work life difficult for you...

  14. James Hughes 1

    Seems fair enough.

    In many companies, leaking an internal memo would be a sackable offense. Especially one that may have influence on the share price.

    Quick work by Google though - figuring out who leaked it. Must have some decent email search engines in there somewhere, oh, hold on.....

    Note to self - don't use work email to leak internal documents.

  15. MinionZero
    Big Brother

    Interesting example of Google's extreme two faced hypocrisy

    @"within hours of the memo being leaked" ... "the leaker had been terminated."

    That's interesting, Google can blatantly abuse and sell our privacy for their profit, but don't dare leak Google's bosses privacy, as you will then be instantly fired. Amazing hypocrisy. :(

    1. Lars Petersson
      Troll

      How is this hypocrisy?

      Every company with sensible Terms & Usage policies will have a provision for searching through your e-mail if they believe you've been misbehaving.

      1. MinionZero
        Big Brother

        @Lars Petersson

        Having a legal(ised) way to punish people doesn't change the fact they want to spy on all our communications and everything we do (including our business communications), yet they show they throw a fit if their privacy is invaded at all. That is hypocrisy.

        Increasingly the rich and powerful in society have biased the law to give them ways to punish us serfs for daring to do what they do. (Just look at HP today buying its way out of trouble (we would be punished, they buy their way out of trouble)). But then the rich and powerful (i.e. corporations and governments) have the power. Us serfs have no real legal protection against our rich and powerful masters and they do all they can to lobby, obstruct and prevent us getting ways to stop them abusing our privacy. But dare spy on them and see what happens. That is hypocrisy.

      2. IglooDude

        But not every company

        has a CEO that seems to equate 'desire for privacy' with 'guilt'. The hypocrisy is not searching through email - indeed, I'd expect that sooner from Google than from most any other company on the planet - the hypocrisy is the expectation that internal memos should stay internal when Schmidt's attitude is that every other chunk of data on the planet should be accessible to the public.

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Lucky them!

    First they get a gingerbread puppet to decorate the company premises, now a pay raise! What's next? Perhaps each employee gets an SSL encripted connection to a Hotmail account so they can have a private life outside Google?

  17. Tigra 07
    Thumb Up

    No title required

    Google's still a brilliant place to work, they give good pay, bonuses, and employee benefits for partners.

    Granted there's people who always think they're up to something, but they've done some real great things for everyone.

    Why shouldn't they be able to sack someone for leaking damaging info?

    1. Lars Petersson
      Pint

      Indeed...

      I know a good few people who either work there or have worked there and they all liked the company and thought it was a good place to work.

      1. Shades
        Joke

        As long as...

        ...you don't mind them stealing the food off your plate, or more precisely, stealing the plate from under your food!

  18. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    other issues?

    I hope that the leaker had a history of problem behaviour, and wasn't sacked just for this. I'd have probably posted such news on FB as I'd be so pleased.

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    The leaker had been terminated ...

    ... but will he be back?

    I'll grab the biker one with the shotgun on the way out ...

  20. Frank 2
    Grenade

    As someone once said...

    "If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place."

    Eric Schmidt

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Terminator

    The leaker has been terminated.....

    No, really, we terminated him!!

    Google=The rise of the machines

  22. mike panero

    Ah google the new M$

    Phone 7 on the same road as Kin Balmer opening the parachutes

    Do no evil? That's witch talk! BURN THEM BURN THEM!!!!

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