THE WORLD'S RICHEST TECH BILLIONAIRES 2014

Here's Forbes list of the World's Richest Tech Billionaires in 2014 ... Interesting

BILL GATES

NET WORTH: $76 billion. 

Helped by a bounce in shares of Microsoft, Bill Gates returns to the top of our annual Billionaires list this year after a four year hiatus. He is worth $9 billion more than a year ago, and has now been the world’s richest person for 15 out of the past 20 years. The Microsoft cofounder, who stepped down as chairman this year, has agreed to spend more time helping the software company’s product managers work on innovations. Meanwhile, Gates, who has given away more than $28 billion in his lifetime, remains focused on his foundation's efforts to eradicate polio and getting fellow billionaires more involved with philanthropy. 

LARRY ELLISON

NET WORTH: $48 billion.

CEO of Oracle, Larry Ellison is worth $5 billion more in 2014, thanks to rising value of his software company’s shares. In September, his Oracle Team USA pulled off a stunning comeback from a seven-race deficit to win its second consecutive America’s Cup sailing race. Ever the competitor, Oracle’s cofounder said in an August interview that Apple's best days are behind it after the passing of close friend Steve Jobs and that Google's alleged infringement on Oracle's patents in its Android software was "absolutely evil." His daughter Megan is a growing Hollywood powerhouse and has financed a string of critical successes including American Hustle and Zero Dark Thirty.

LARRY PAGE

NET WORTH: $32.3 billion.

CEO Larry Page is rearranging the furniture at Google. Over two weeks in January, he announced his company's $3.2 billion, all-cash acquisition of thermostat-maker Nest as well as the $2.9 billion sale of its Motorola phone business to Lenovo. Shareholders aren't blinking an eye. The search giant's stock continues to trade at record highs and is up about 50% year-over-year as of mid-February. That's caused the net worths of cofounders Page and Sergey Brin to surge past the $30 billion mark on the list for the first time.  In April, Google will undergo a stock split to introduce new Class C shares that will carry no voting power. That move will consolidate the voting power of executives including Page, who owns nearly 24 million Class B shares, which carry 10-to-one voting power.

FACEBOOK'S MARK ZUCKERBERG NOW EARNING $1 SALARY

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is now the company’s lowest-paid employee, according to its latest proxy filing. Zuckerberg — worth $27.8 billion mostly in Facebook stock —  requested an annual wage of $1 in 2013, joining the ranks of a handful of other very wealthy CEOs who take a symbolically negligible base pay.

Zuckerberg, who earned $770,000 in combined salary and bonus in 2012, is now in good company among giants of the tech sector. Google's GOOG +1.83% Sergey Brin and Larry Page, worth roughly $30 billion a piece, have been drawing a $1 salary for a decade now.


“The dollar salary really for them is meant to signify that they have large stakes in their company. The value they’re going to receive – the compensation they’ll earn – is coming solely from their stock,” says Aaron Boyd, director of governance for Equilar, a company that researches executive compensation. “You’re not going to question whether or not Larry Page is interested in growing a company’s stock as a shareholder. As one of the largest shareholders, he’s all in.”

Hewlett-Packard’s Meg Whitman (net worth $2 billion) and Oracle’s Larry Ellison (net worth $51.5 billion) also take just a buck in base pay. But unlike Zuckerberg, Brin and Page, the H-P and Oracle head honchos earn significant compensation in other ways. Whitman actually earned $17.6 million in stock and other performance-based awards in 2013, while Ellison was paid $79.6 million almost entirely in stock options — a dip from the $96 million he hauled in in 2012.  Dividends paid on the Oracle shares Ellison owns added  another $255 million to his annual take (before taxes).

Boyd says for somebody like Whitman, who isn’t a founder and was brought in to turn the company around, her compensation is tied directly to her performance — she earns her compensation if H-P meets its goals.

“She would need to achieve success with the company to earn returns from the stock,” he said.

Silicon Valley doesn’t hold the patent on $1 salaries, though. Richard Hayne, CEO of Urban Outfitters, is another billionaire in the $1 salary club — though he did draw a whopping $5,000 bonus in 2013. Oil and gas baron Richard Kinder, worth $9.3 billion, reaps $1 in total compensation from his energy company Kinder Morgan. In the biotech world, Robert Duggan, CEO of anti-cancer drug maker Pharmacyclics, thinks even $1 is a bit too rich. He takes no compensation whatsoever from the company, though he does have a $1.5 billion fortune comprised mostly of Pharmacyclics stock.

Although Zuckerberg will only hit up his social networking company for a $1 salary henceforth, Facebook is still ponying up for airfare and personal security. The company installed and maintains Zuckerberg’s security detail and also covered chartered flights for him and his guests for a total of $653,165 in 2013 — down from $1.2 million the previous year.

FACEBOOK BUYING OCULUS VIRTUAL REALITY COMPANY FOR $2 BILLION

Facebook is set to purchase Oculus VR, a virtual reality headset company best known for its Oculus Rift gaming device, in an unexpected $2 billion dollar deal expected to close in the second quarter of this year
Facebook will acquire virtual reality technology company Oculus VR for $2 billion, the social networking giant announced Tuesday. Oculus makes the Oculus Rift, a virtual reality headset originally funded on Kickstarter.

Though Oculus’s endeavors so far have focused on gaming, Facebook said in a press release that it intends to extend the use of the technology to communications, media and other forms of entertainment. Oculus has received 75,000 orders for development kits for its Rift headset thus far.

“Mobile is the platform of today, and now we’re also getting ready for the platforms of tomorrow,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a company release. “Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate.”

The deal includes $400 million in cash and $1.6 billion in Facebook stock, as well as an additional $300 million if Oculus meets certain performance targets. Oculus will remain headquartered in Irvine, Calif. and continue developing the Oculus Rift. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2014.