Another way to give: Be an entrepreneur
We think that entrepreneurs are just in it for the money, but what they do causes a huge spillover effect.
That’s not to say they don’t make money: I came across Larry Page’s page and his level of financial success at 33 is astonishing. The Google board offered the three executives salary and bonus increases for 2005. However, CEO Eric Schmidt and presidents Larry Page and Sergey Brin turned down the offer and volunteered to cut their salary to $1 a year. They chose not to participate in the executive bonus plan.
The compensation committee noted that because the founders’ wealth is tied to Google’s stock price, their interests are already aligned with shareholders – a common goal of executive compensation plans. Eschewing a regular paycheck isn’t unprecedented. Corporate chiefs who have taken $1 salaries include Oracle’s Larry Ellison, Pepsi’s Roger Enrico and Apple’s Steve Jobs.
The wealth comes from capital gain. What’s even more interesting is the impact of a successful business on surrounding communities. It is estimated that 12% of California’s tax receipt growth in April comes from the sale of Google shares by insiders.
California took in a record $11.3 billion in personal income tax receipts in April, $4.3 billion more than it collected last April. It’s almost certain that a significant chunk of April’s haul came from Google employees — perhaps one-eighth or more of the tax receipt gain.
Turns out that entrepreneurship is a truly noble cause.
Tim Tang is an Industry Analyst on the Market Intelligence team at MaRS. He charts technology landscapes and thinks about digital economies at the intersection of digital media, software and hardware in the 21st century. Before MaRS, Tim worked at Rogers Communications as a Business Analyst and Maplesoft on the international sales team. He has won the national JCI Best Business Plan competition and represented Canada at the World Congress in Vienna, Austria.
