Article on FI Googlers who moved on

[kramer]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/01/07/MNGA7NEDQ01.DTL

This article profiles the lives of seven ex-Google employees who became wealthy while working at the company and then moved on to try other things.

Kramer

Every day is like Saturday for Will Whitted.

Since retiring from Google in 2005, he's been a man of leisure, starting his mornings with a spin on his exercise bike, then answering e-mail followed by a trip to his cluttered garage to hammer out his latest inspiration in home decor.

Or maybe not.

"For the first time in my life, I don't have to get approval for anything I do," Whitted said.

Who can blame him? Whitted, 59, is unabashedly living the good life in his posh, secluded Woodside home with views of a neighbor's vineyard and a plowed-under lawn he hopes to restore to native grassland.

Google, where he worked for five years in electrical engineering, is a distant memory. His decision to leave came soon after his diagnosis with lymphoma, although he added that "people had stopped listening to me" anyway.

 

[Nords]

Any Google employees or alumni here?

I've heard that they spent quite a bit of time & effort on financially educating their employees before the IPO so that they could effectively address the issue of hordes of financial planners descending on the company.

It'd be interesting to hear what kind of 401(k) Google offers their employees and how effective the rank & file feel that training was..

 

[saluki9]

It'd be interesting to hear what kind of 401(k) Google offers their employees and how effective the rank & file feel that training was..

Google 401(k) is provided through Vanguard. They allow contributions up to 60% of salary and match 50% up to $2500 with instant vesting

They also provide Financial Engines paid for by the company.

 

[Nords]

Google 401(k) is provided through Vanguard.

Man, I would've loved to have seen the feeding frenzy put on by the prospective financial advisors as they jockeyed for position...