Massaging Google: Options rub them right

SAN FRANCISCO - Bonnie Brown was fresh from a nasty divorce in 1999, living with her sister and uncertain of her future. On a lark, she answered an ad for an in-house masseuse at Google, then a Silicon Valley startup with 40 employees. She was offered the part-time job, which started out at $450 a week but included a pile of Google stock options that she figured might never be worth a penny.

After five years of kneading engineers backs, Brown retired, cashing in most of her stock options, which were worth millions of dollars. To her delight, the shares she held onto have continued to balloon in value.

I m happy I saved enough stock for a rainy day, and lately it s been pouring, said Brown, 52, who now lives in a 3,000-square-foot house in Nevada, gets her own massages at least once a week and has a private Pilates instructor. She has traveled the world to oversee a charitable foundation she started with her Google wealth and has written a book, still unpublished, Giigle: How I Got Lucky Massaging Google.

When Google s stock topped $700 a share last week before dropping back to $664 on Friday, it was not just outside shareholders who were smiling. According to documents filed on Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Google employees and former employees are holding options they can cash in worth about $2.1 billion. In addition, current employees are sitting on stock and unvested options, or options they cannot immediately cash in, that together have a value of about $4.1 billion.

Although no one keeps an official count of Google millionaires, it is estimated that 1,000 people each have more than $5 million worth of Google shares from stock grants and stock options.

One founder, Larry Page, has stock worth $20 billion. The other, Sergey Brin, has slightly less, $19.6 billion, according to Equilar, an executive compensation research firm in Redwood Shores, Calif. Three Google senior vice presidents - David Drummond, the chief legal officer; Shona Brown, who runs business operations; and Jonathan Rosenberg, who oversees product management - together are holding $160 million worth of Google stock and options.

This is a very rare phenomenon, when one company so quickly becomes worth so much money, said Peter Hero, senior adviser to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, which works with individuals and corporations to support charitable organizations in the region. During the boom times, there were lots of companies whose employees made a lot of money fast, like Yahoo and Netscape. But the scale didn t approach Google.

Indeed, Google has seemed to exist in its own microclimate, with its shares climbing even as other technology stocks have been buffeted by investor skittishness. The stock touched an all-time high of $747.24 on Tuesday before falling more than $83 a share during the week to close at $663.97 on Friday. But even after that sell-off, the stock has risen more than 44 percent, or $203 a share, this year.

The days are long gone when people like Brown were handed thousands of Google options with the exercise price, or the predetermined price that employees would pay to buy the stock, set in pennies. Nearly half of the 16,000 employees now at Google have been there for a year or less, and their options have an average exercise price of more than $500. But those who started at the company a year ago, or even three months ago, are seeing their options soar in value.

Several Google employees interviewed for this article say they do not watch the dizzying climb of the company s shares. When it comes to awareness of the stock price, they say, Google is different from other large high-tech companies where they have worked, like Microsoft, where the day s stock price is a fixture on many people s computer screens.

It isn t considered Googley to check the stock price, said an engineer.

Soldiers from the NATO warplanes to simulated emergency evacuation

Members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces on the 22nd in the West African island nation of Cape Verde held codenamed firm Puma large-scale landing exercise, this is the first time NATO military exercise held in Africa.

Exercises where the oil rich but violent conflict in the West African region continuously, for the first time in Africa NATO military exercise is not a profound meaning.

Running-in rapid reaction force

NATO forces on the 22nd exercise amphibious landing operations, which will be present on the 15th to the 28th military exercise the core contents of the exercises, more than 7,000 from France, Germany infantry unit in the Air Force troops and naval forces under the cover of Spain , San Vicente landing Cape Verde islands. Their task is to prevent a scenario of tribal conflict, in the scenario, a hostile local tribes in contention for a fight island s energy resources.

During the exercise, NATO forces will try to Cape Verde in the rugged mountains and beaches rapid advance, significantly different from the previous tank unit in the European Plain, the Group of combat exercises. NATO s 25,000-strong rapid reaction force will be in October formally in place, firm Puma exercise this unit is available before the last run-in.

NATO s commitment to green military exercise

The Cape Verde exercises held in the west of Africa s west coast on the Atlantic Ocean. This was a colony of Portugal, the island has about 42,000 population, the population average age of less than 20 years of age.

NATO spokesman said. They would do their utmost to protect the flora and fauna from the local population and exercise influence. We have time to the Cape Verde what, we will take the time it is what kind.

NATO vessels use of a whale designed specifically for the protection of the passive sonar to avoid hurting the Block humpback whales, but only in the use of light weapons, live ammunition, the exercise equipment in the exercises will be the end of all removed, the soldiers have accepted cultural practices training.

Exercise intent spectacular

NATO this out of the traditional Europe - Atlantic sphere of influence, the premiere of Africa, has not only extended to other parts of tentacles that simple.

NATO officials have insisted that firm Puma exercises with NATO prepared to intervene to protect the energy supply in West Africa have no direct links negotiations.

NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe James Jones said that if the NATO intervention to protect oil supplies in West Africa, they will send naval vessels to patrol the West African coast, the protection of tanker safety, or direct access to the main oil-producing areas of Nigeria Niger River delta, and other volatile areas protection of oil production and storage facility safety.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer last month in Portugal s remarks may be better able to sum up the intention of the NATO military exercises in West Africa. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said that NATO can be involved in reform and expansion of the NATO intervention in areas such as intervention in energy security, including energy supply line intervention to avoid disruption of energy transport; Second, intervention crucial energy facilities to combat terrorism.

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