Google Chairman Eric Schmidt Is Getting A $6 Million Bonus On Friday

Let's just say this: He earned it.

Sure, Schmidt hardly needs the cash, thanks to his gigantic stake in Google, which is worth more than $6 billion after the stock's recent run-up. (He's planning to sell about 42 percent of those shares over the course of this year.)

But when he stepped down as CEO two years ago, Schmidt took a new position focusing on Google's relationships with governments around the world—including the United States.

Google recently settled an antitrust dispute with the Federal Trade Commission that could have seriously threatened its business. It got away with a surprisingly light agreement.

The company had a very good year, besides the resolution of the antitrust matter, and other bonuses reflected that.

Google's chief legal officer, David Drummond, got the next biggest bonus at $3.3 million.

Google's CFO, Patrick Pichette, and sales chief, Nikesh Arora, got $2.8 million apiece.