ETtechGoogle reportedly paid Indian-American executive Neal Mohan $100 million more than a decade ago to prevent him from leaving the company for Twitter, now known as X. The revelation resurfaced during a recent episode of Zerodha cofounder Nikhil Kamath's podcast, where the host referenced the intense competition among tech companies to retain senior leaders.
In 2011, Neal Mohan was a key figure in Google’s advertising and YouTube product strategy. During the podcast, Kamath said, “I remember reading this thing about Google offering you $100 million not to quit. Not today, but 15 years ago, which was a lot of money.” Mohan did not deny the claim.
According to a 2011 TechCrunch report, the compensation was offered in the form of restricted stock units that would vest over several years. The offer was reportedly made after Twitter tried to recruit Mohan as its chief product officer. That move was led by David Rosenblatt, Mohan’s former boss at advertisment company DoubleClick and a Twitter board member at the time.
Mohan holds a degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University and began his career at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture), later joining adtech startup NetGravity. Following NetGravity’s acquisition by DoubleClick, he rose to become vice president of business operations. He transitioned to Google in 2007 when it acquired DoubleClick for $3.1 billion and went on to play a critical role in shaping its advertising and video product strategy.
By 2011, he had emerged as one of the most influential voices in Google’s product development efforts. The $100 million retention package was seen as a strategic move to safeguard Google's leadership bench at a time when top executives were being aggressively courted by rivals.
Mohan was not the only executive approached by Twitter. Around the same time, Twitter also attempted to hire Sundar Pichai, who was then leading Chrome and Chrome OS at Google. The search giant reportedly countered with a $50 million stock grant to retain him.
Both Mohan and Pichai have since risen to the top of their respective organisations. Mohan succeeded Susan Wojcicki as chief executive officer of YouTube in 2023. Pichai was appointed CEO of Google in 2015 and took on the role of Alphabet Inc’s CEO in 2019.
In 2011, Neal Mohan was a key figure in Google’s advertising and YouTube product strategy. During the podcast, Kamath said, “I remember reading this thing about Google offering you $100 million not to quit. Not today, but 15 years ago, which was a lot of money.” Mohan did not deny the claim.
According to a 2011 TechCrunch report, the compensation was offered in the form of restricted stock units that would vest over several years. The offer was reportedly made after Twitter tried to recruit Mohan as its chief product officer. That move was led by David Rosenblatt, Mohan’s former boss at advertisment company DoubleClick and a Twitter board member at the time.
Mohan holds a degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University and began his career at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture), later joining adtech startup NetGravity. Following NetGravity’s acquisition by DoubleClick, he rose to become vice president of business operations. He transitioned to Google in 2007 when it acquired DoubleClick for $3.1 billion and went on to play a critical role in shaping its advertising and video product strategy.
By 2011, he had emerged as one of the most influential voices in Google’s product development efforts. The $100 million retention package was seen as a strategic move to safeguard Google's leadership bench at a time when top executives were being aggressively courted by rivals.
Mohan was not the only executive approached by Twitter. Around the same time, Twitter also attempted to hire Sundar Pichai, who was then leading Chrome and Chrome OS at Google. The search giant reportedly countered with a $50 million stock grant to retain him.
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Both Mohan and Pichai have since risen to the top of their respective organisations. Mohan succeeded Susan Wojcicki as chief executive officer of YouTube in 2023. Pichai was appointed CEO of Google in 2015 and took on the role of Alphabet Inc’s CEO in 2019.
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