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Google

The Google IPO crew, then and now

By
Miguel Helft
Miguel Helft
and
Andrew Nusca
Andrew Nusca
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Miguel Helft
Miguel Helft
and
Andrew Nusca
Andrew Nusca
Down Arrow Button Icon
August 20, 2014, 1:47 PM ET
Google IPO Nasdaq crew 2004 David Krane
Google executives just before ringing the opening Nasdaq bell in 2004.Courtesy: David Krane

“This,” wrote the Google Ventures general partner David Krane yesterday on Twitter. “10 years ago, today. A day I’ll never forget…”

The object in question was the photo-of-a-photo seen above, of Google executives preparing to ring the opening bell of Nasdaq in New York on August 19, 2004. As Fortune wrote yesterday, Google (GOOG) was a much smaller company then. It was involved in far fewer businesses, had dramatically less revenue, and employed just five percent of the people it does today.

The people on stage for Google’s initial public offering that day didn’t even represent 1% of the company’s employees at the time, but many of them were important to the company’s early success. Below, a list of who those people are, what role they played on that day in 2004, and where they are today.

In the front row

Left to right:

Unknown Nasdaq executive

David Krane—then, Google’s director of Global Communications and Public Affairs;n ow, general partner at Google Ventures.

George Reyes—then, Google’s chief financial officer; now, retired.

Eric Schmidt—then, Google’s chief executive officer; now, Google’s executive chairman.

Larry Page—then, Google’s president of products; now, Google’s chief executive officer.

Robert Greifeld—then and now, Nasdaq’s chief executive officer. (You may remember him for bearing the criticism for Facebook’s botched IPO in 2012.)

Bruce Aust—then and now, Nasdaq’s executive vice president for its global corporate client group.

In the back row

Left to right:

Mona Chu—then, Google’s director of SEC reporting & technical accounting; now, unknown. (She left Google in June 2013, according to her LinkedIn profile.)

Unknown executive

Mark Fuchs—then, Google’s vice president of finance and chief accountant; now, unknown.

Pietro Dova—then, Google’s corporate controller and finance director; now, a founding partner at XG Ventures (with ex-Googler Andrea Zurek).

Marissa Mayer—then, Google’s director of consumer Web products; today, Yahoo’s president and chief executive officer.

Douglas Merrill—then, Google’s chief information officer (he stitched together the IT behind the very complicated, multi-bank “Dutch” auction system); now, founder and chief executive of ZestFinance.

Tim Armstrong—then, Google’s vice president for advertising sales; now, AOL’s chairman and chief executive officer.

Omid Kordestani—then, Google’s senior vice president for worldwide sales and field operations; now, Google’s interim chief business officer (since the departure of Nikesh Arora last month) and special advisor to the CEO.

Michael Grimes—then and now, head of global technology investment banking at Morgan Stanley.

Jeff Donovan—then, a Google lawyer; now, unknown.

David Drummond—then, Google’s vice president and general counsel; now, Google’s senior vice president for corporate development and chief legal officer.

WATCH: 10 years of GOOG

About the Authors
By Miguel Helft
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Andrew Nusca
By Andrew NuscaEditorial Director, Brainstorm and author of Fortune Tech
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Andrew Nusca is the editorial director of Brainstorm, Fortune's innovation-obsessed community and event series. He also authors Fortune Tech, Fortune’s flagship tech newsletter.

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