But Schmidt didn't receive a bonus or any new stock or option awards in Google's 2008 fiscal year, which ended Dec. 31. Nor did Larry Page or Sergey Brin, who each took a $1 salary and nothing more, according to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

None of the Google triumvirate holds any outstanding options -- but each owns quite a bit of stock in the company. Schmidt owns roughly 9.4 million shares, or 12.5%. Page owns 29.1 million shares (38.9%), and Brin owns 28.6 million shares (38.2%).

"Eric, Larry and Sergey have voluntarily elected to receive only nominal cash compensation. Their primary compensation continues to come from returns on their ownership stakes in Google," the company stated in its proxy statement, filed March 24 with the SEC. "As significant stockholders, their personal wealth is tied directly to sustained stock price appreciation and performance, which provides direct alignment with stockholder interests."

As a company, reported strong revenue growth but relatively flat profit for 2008. It reported revenue of $21.8 billion, a gain of 31% over the $16.6 billion reported in 2007. Net income grew 0.5% to $4.23 billion, up from $4.2 billion in 2007.

Google's profits took a big hit in the fourth quarter, when the company recognized $1.09 billion in write-offs related primarily to its investments in AOL and .