Hundreds of Google Employees Set To Become Millionaires, Will They Keep Working?

By Jim Goldman NBC News Channel

Hundreds of Google employees are poised to become new millionaires this summer, leading some on Wall Street to worry about an upcoming brain drain. What's the company doing to make sure it doesn't suffer a mass exodus?

Google is Silicon Valley's biggest sensation. It is the darling of Wall Street and a utopian place to work. Google's now a global giant, worth more than $150 billion now, hiring 1,500 workers every quarter, many who become millionaires, leaving the company with a serious challenge: how do you motivate employees not just to work, but to keep working even when they don't have to?

Many say it's the company's unique culture that prevents a kind of brain-drain.

Google's Chief Officer of Culture, Stacy Sullivan, says "our culture is one that promotes and encourages creative ideas."

Stacy Sullivan is the company's Chief Officer of Culture. Officer of Culture?

Stacy Sullivan says "this role has the most important ingredient to our success. If we continue to foster our culture that encourages cooperation and teamwork. That is going to create more ideas and more creativity."

To keep that culture going, it's all about the perks, legendary in the business.

Google employee Amber Issa says "there are so many benefits, I don't even know how to begin."

What's he doing sitting in a massage chair? Working of course! A bar in the office? No problem. Cash bonuses, stock options, car washes, sand volleyball courts, games, exercise facilities, free breakfast, lunch and dinner from corporate America's ultimate commissary, and the industry's ultimate brain food.

Roger McNamee of Elevation Partners says "the theory was, they were going to have a culture of not just smart people but brilliant people."

Brilliant people who are about to cash in big time. As google turns three as a publicly traded company, nearly $3 billion dollars as in pre-IPO options will vest a one two punch of a mass exodus facing the company, and a huge flood of shares hitting the market facing investors.

Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray says "the average Google employee who has the opportunity to cash out will be worth an additional 6.5 million dollars so most of them enjoy working at Google just for the love of the game so we don't think there will be brain drain based on that."

Craig Silverstein, Google's Director of Technology says, "our huge challenge is like that for every tech company, to stay relevant, that is true for Google as well. Will we be able to rise to the challenge? We got the talents, we got the insight, we got the willingness to try out new things."

And now, the company hopes it's attention to culture, a stock that keeps climbing, and it's global brand name are all enough to keep workers from running for the exits.

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