A bombshell report from The New York Times today (Oct. 25) revealed that Google gave Android founder Andy Rubin a $90 million exit package despite finding sexual-misconduct claims against him to be “credible.”
The circumstances of Rubin’s exit were not widely known when he left the search giant in 2014. Larry Page, who was Google’s chief executive at the time, praised Rubin’s departure, saying: “With Android he created something truly remarkable — with a billion-plus happy users.” Internally, the Times reports, the company asked for Rubin’s resignation after a colleague complained that he had coerced her into performing oral sex on him in a hotel room in 2013.
Despite those claims, Google paid Rubin $90 million to leave, the last $2 million of which will reportedly be paid out next month. Google was under no fiduciary responsibility to give Rubin severance. The agreement stipulated that Rubin would not work for any major rivals or disparage the company, according to the Times. Google also invested in Playground Global, a venture firm Mr. Rubin started six months after leaving the company.
When The Information first broke the news of Google’s investigation into Rubin’s inappropriate behavior last year, he took a leave of absence from Essential, the Android-first phone company. He has since returned to work.
Update: Google CEO Sunday Pichai released a statement, which you can read here.