Googlers are richer than you

If the typical Googler hired in 2003 exercised all of his options and held onto the shares, they would now be worth almost $8 million, writes Wendy Tanaka in a Forbes article on stinking-rich Googlionaires, ex-Google employees who were at the right place at the right time. And those Googlers worth $8 million? The regular, workaday ones. Add a few zeros behind that number to get to executive-level compensation. Sergey and Larry have sold more than $2 billion worth of stock. Sales head Omid Kordestani and CEO Eric Schmidt both have more than $1 billion in the bank from their Google stock sales, which should leave them enough cash to use for their extracurricular activities. And what do rank-and-file Googlers do with their extra spending money?

Forbes has put together a photo gallery of splurges, from an orange Lamborghini to seed funding for new companies. The most outrageous claim? Skydiving in South Africa is claimed to be an absolute "must" for any Googlionaire, and the recommendation seems appropriate. Starting off at an amazing high and then freefalling towards rock bottom should prepare them for the rest of their career.