YouTube’s Google Riches

Admit it, when you heard Google bought YouTube for $1.5 billion
last fall, you considered reevaluating your career choice. If you can do that, yesterday’s Google filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) might peak your interest.

It’s now very clear who earned shares of that billion-plus and just how much in dollars it translates to.

The proposed maximum offer price per unit of Google
share was $472.10. So figure that YouTube founders Chad Hurley’s
694,087 shares are worth $327 million, Steve Chen’s 625,366 are worth $295
million, and Jawed Karim’s 137,443 are worth $64 million. Hurley and Chen also
deposited 41,232 and 68,721 shares, respectively, in separate trusts.

Hurley and Chen weren’t the only Hurleys and Chens to come away with
big pay days. David Chia-Wei Chen, Richard Chen and Sharon Chen each
made with 20,616 shares of Google stock, worth about $9.4 million.
Brent Hurley, came away with 22,334 shares, Heather Michelle Hurley
10,308 and Donald Hurley and JoAnn Hurley split 10,308 as joint tenants.

Venture capital firm Sequoia Capital XI also did well, coming away with 941,027 shares of Google stock worth approximately $444 million. Colleges and
universities scored with the acquisition, as well, including Harvard College with 37,866 shares and Davidson College with 3,608.

Many of these new part-owners of Google will immediately sell their
positions, but those who hang on to their investments will join the
company in facing growing challenges presented by the acquisition that made them rich.

Last week, media giant Viacom demanded YouTube
take down 100,000 clips, including content from MTV, Comedy Central
and other networks. The move follows what the media company feels was
frustrating distribution negotiations.

Viacom said “it has become clear that YouTube is unwilling to come to
a fair market agreement” on content distribution.

Of course others, it seems, might have many, many reasons to be
pleased with Google’s negotiation tactics.