When the first Android phone shipped in 2008, Andy Rubin received a multimillion dollar check from his bosses at Google.

He turned around and gave some of the money away to the 100 or so employees on the Android team.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Android workers received between $10,000 and $50,000 as part of the surprise deal.

Rubin also throws two parties a year for his employees at his home in Mountain View.

The story is also a good reminder of Rubin's long history with Microsoft -- he was with WebTV, the Internet-on-TV company that Microsoft bought in 1997, before quitting to start Danger, which built the Sidekick. After he left Danger to form Android, Microsoft bought that company, too.

And when a bunch of phone makers signed on to build Android devices in 2007, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer laughed and said "they're welcome in our world." As it turns out, Android was very welcome indeed -- it's now the leading smartphone platform worldwide with 43% market share, while Microsoft has less than 2%.

See also: What Did Nokia CEO Mean By "Signs Of Danger" In Google-Motorola Deal?