Bonus awarded for year in which company reported record revenues of $50bn but came under fire for UK tax arrangements

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

Google has awarded its chairman, Eric Schmidt, a $6m (£4m) cash bonus for 2012 – a year when the company reported record revenues of $50bn but came under fire over its UK tax arrangements.

Schmidt will receive the $6m payout on 15 March as reward for his contribution to the company in the past financial year, Google said in a regulatory filing late on Tuesday.

Google confirmed that David Drummond, its chief legal officer, has also been awarded a $3.3m cash bonus. Patrick Pichette, Google's chief financial officer, and Nikesh Arora, chief business officer, will take home $2.8m in cash each.

The payouts were approved by Google's leadership development and compensation committee, which is chaired by former Intel chief executive Paul Otellini.

In January, Google reported its first ever $50bn year, with annual revenues up 36% year on year. The company posted a profit of $2.89bn in the fourth quarter of 2012, up from $2.71bn a year earlier.

But the bumper year was somewhat blighted in the UK as Google was one of a number of multinational companies, including Amazon and Starbucks, that came under fire from MPs over their tax arrangements.

Google lawfully used the tax haven of Bermuda for £6bn of transactions, while paying just £6m in corporation tax in the UK, in 2012.

Speaking in January this year, Schmidt said Google would abide by any tax changes imposed by the UK. "Our tax strategy is that whatever the tax regime, we would pay that," he said at a Cambridge University debate.