Disgraced Google Exec Andy Rubin Quietly Left His Venture Firm Earlier This Year (buzzfeednews.com) 48
Andy Rubin, the former Google senior vice president whose $90 million exit package caused a worldwide employee walkout at the search giant last year, quietly left Playground Global, the venture firm he founded in May, BuzzFeed News reported today citing internal documents. From the report: The revelation comes as Rubin, who was accused of coercing a subordinate into sexual acts while at Google before being given a hero's send-off in 2014, attempts to make a public comeback with Essential Products, the mobile device company he founded. On Tuesday, Rubin tweeted images of Essential's new phones, some of his first public statements since late 2018 when news broke on the circumstances surrounding his exit from Google. Those circumstances caused an uproar at Google, which was already dealing with several stories of executive harassment and misbehavior, and provided direct proof that Larry Page, the CEO of Google parent company Alphabet, and his board members had intentionally tried to cover up misdeeds at the top.
Not only were Google executives aware of allegations of sexual misconduct at the time of Rubin's exit, but they failed to notify employees, lauded him in a departure announcement, and sent him off with a $90 million exit package. Rubin's departure from Playground was also accompanied by a payout, with a source familiar placing the amount at more than $9 million. Documents related to his exit, which were seen by some investors and the company's leadership, but not all of Playground's staff, were reviewed by BuzzFeed News.
Not only were Google executives aware of allegations of sexual misconduct at the time of Rubin's exit, but they failed to notify employees, lauded him in a departure announcement, and sent him off with a $90 million exit package. Rubin's departure from Playground was also accompanied by a payout, with a source familiar placing the amount at more than $9 million. Documents related to his exit, which were seen by some investors and the company's leadership, but not all of Playground's staff, were reviewed by BuzzFeed News.
Re: (Score:2)
Nobody's ever gotten a Nobel prize for not being GWB. One guy got it for teleprompter reading, though.
and another one who can barely read from a teleprompter repeatedly whines about how unfair it it he hasn't been given one.
Re: (Score:2)
If you want a pay raise in Silicon Valley, you have to get a new job. This guy makes more money leaving his old job.
That's how a class based society works. Different rules for different tiers of capitalism. You don't like it? Well that's anti-American!
Allegations !? (Score:3)
is a private company supposed to do anything about "allegations" ? Isn' it the job of the justice ?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Normally I'm right there with you, but this dude is a liability and the evidence of his creepiness are all out there for any to see.
At his next job, he should be required to wear a chastity belt at work or when meeting employees externally.
Re: (Score:2)
...but he really is a creepy little gross nerd who used his money to get women to pretend he wasn't a sad, pathetic little creepy dweeb.
What else is money for? Why am I working?!
Re: (Score:2)
You're acting like people are sane. They aren't. We're in an age where people are infantalized and "power" is incredibly nebulous. Louis CK had his career ruined because he had "power" (not really) over the women he whacked off in front of just because they idolized him supposedly. Basically if you can provide the other person something, you have "power" and they are poor victims, regardless of the flip side of the coin of them agreeing to do something for money or better job prospects.
MeToo has literally g
Re: (Score:2)
...he really is a creepy little gross nerd who used his money to get women to pretend he wasn't a sad, pathetic little creepy dweeb.
Didn't realize that being a nerd and getting called creepy made you illegal. My bad.
Also, what's wrong with using money to get women? The TV tells me that's what it's bloody for!
Re: (Score:2)
It makes you a liability especially when you dip your pen in the company ink. Not only will you get sued and get woke twitter after you, but the company you work for will suffer.
Used to be that fame was also useful for getting women, but these days people will claim that's an abuse of 'power' too. It's all ridiculous.
We're at the point where people are getting MeTood for basically just being dicks. Some woman will post a tearful 5 page description of not how her boyfriend did anything illegal but was just a
Re: (Score:2)
Re: Allegations !? (Score:2)
As an ESL speaker, what is "creepiness"? I haven't managed to come across a concrete definition of the term.
Basically it's flirting while ugly. As long as you're attractive you don't need to worry about it.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Keep in mind the definition of pretty or ugly was pushed into your brain, your were programmed with it when you were young. You will never guess how, by comics, those cartoons you read as a child, shoved it in your head. The lazy cartoonists who draws characters they draw the most often with the least number of lines, the good guys and gals (the pretty people by exhibited behaviour) and the characters he draws the least often the bad guys and gals with many more lines adding character to the face, their app
Re: Allegations !? (Score:2)
Keep in mind the definition of pretty or ugly was pushed into your brain, your were programmed with it when you were young
Absolute nonsense; studies done on infants have repeatedly shown that standards of beauty are biologically hardwired. Some aspects of how we judge beauty may be shaped by society but to suggest that all of them are is absolutely asinine.
Re: (Score:2)
hitpiece.
Re: (Score:1)
And this whole time, I've been a pathetic little creepy dweeb for free. Now I feel like the sucker.
Re:Allegations !? (Score:4, Insightful)
Accusation is basically a court of law. Due process is a thing of the past. At least in this case I’m not particularly worried about the accused, but not all of us can walk away with millions. As much as the left eats it’s own you think they would be a little more concerned, but then that would basically be disarmament.
Re: (Score:2)
It's capitalism at it's finest. They calculated that defending the guy and the lawsuits against them for not protecting their staff from him would cost more than getting rid of him.
There was no mob, no outage. TFA says he left quietly and without fuss. The Right loves valuing people in monetary terms and disposing of them as soon as fiduciary responsibly demands it.
Re: (Score:2)
Accusation is basically a court of law. Due process is a thing of the past. At least in this case I’m not particularly worried about the accused, but not all of us can walk away with millions. As much as the left eats it’s own you think they would be a little more concerned, but then that would basically be disarmament.
It depends on whose rights you're concerned about. The 5th Amendment gives the right of due process to the accused, but that due process is with regard to legal jurisdiction and sanctions. Extending due process to the opinions of the press and private citizens impinges on 1st Amendment rights. How do we balance these competing rights? It's hard, but we have legal defamation laws that try to establish this balance.
Re: (Score:1)
The company was likely facing a choice between sticking with him and getting hit with lawsuits and investor/consumer discontent, or paying him to leave.
Simple cost calculation said ditch him.
Re: (Score:2)
Sure, there's no chance that he had a contract requiring them to pay him off if they canned him. No way.
Dumbass.
The real dumbasses would be company lawyers who wrote a contract that would pay out huge sums to in the case of misconduct.
Re: Allegations !? (Score:2)
Even if his contract had a misconduct clause, he would almost certainly challenge it in court. They would spend millions fighting a long and very public case, and there's a decent chance they would lose. Easier and less risky to just pay him off and make it go away quickly.
Re: (Score:3)
The real problem is that the corruption at the top makes signing contracts that require hundred million dollar payouts to leave seem reasonable.
Re: (Score:2)
90m dollars...
Either he's the Wilt Chamberlain of sexual harassment, or they got a bum deal.
Re: (Score:2)
EXACTLY this a private company should cooperate with law enforcement as required by statute and comply willingly with legal discovery request. If they think someone presence is a distraction they should let them go with whatever standard severance they do or agreement they have with that person.
One Percenters are a mafia (Score:2)
The One Percent have always behaved like a mafia: they "take care of their own" as if they were family, but treat everyone else as inferior garbage to be exploited at will.
Re: (Score:2)
500K makes you a 1%er. Most Tech mid level managers make more than that.
The Rich (Score:2)
“The very rich are different than you and me.”
“Yes, they have more money.”
- Ernest Hemingway, The Snows of Kilimanjaro (somewhat abbreviated)
Re: (Score:2)
You should follow in his footsteps.
Re: (Score:2)
Justice? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Is it possible they owed him money? (Score:2)
He was probably an investor - and upon exit they paid him back for his investment?!
Sure - probably plenty of "here share the money" graft or Ponzi like gains.
But maybe they wanted him out and departed ways and divested his money from their organization?!
Maybe.