Top lawyer income figures rank highly, but for Google’s top lawyer the $50 million-plus earnings represent the sort of income movie and pop celebrities might earn.
Google’s top lawyer Kent Walker took home $50.88 million in 2020 on a salary of $655,000. The difference – and what a difference – was made up of over $50 million in stock awards together with some other compensation according to a proxy statement filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Although top earning lawyers at major law firms can take home as much as $4-$5 million or more, as we have recently reported, the astronomical earnings of top counsel at major corporates can easily eclipse such lawyer income with their stock bonuses.
Walker oversees teams responsible for content policy, government affairs, legal matters, philanthropy and responsible innovation.
Alphabet, the Google holding company for Google, reported earnings of $182.52 billion.
Walker has a degree in social studies from Harvard University and a Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School. He worked as an assistant attorney in the US department of justice for a number of years, and went on to hold executive positions as general counsel at Netscape, AOL, and eBay before being appointed as general counsel at Google in 2006, later vice president of global affairs for the company.
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