Before we guess the obscene amount that EMI may have offered Merrill, we need to ask - what really drives him? And that is something that really a good leader uses to drive his managers to deliver. Money is a great motivator, but not the only one or even the top one. INterestingly for top performers, it usually is number 2 or 3. Number #1 usually being a pursuit for excellence - it could vary from having an environment which constantly offers challenge or an environment where constant evolution challenges your creativity constantly.

In case of Merrill, I would guess it probably would be a desire to test his own abilities. Star performers usually raise their own bar as they scale more and more heights. Having achieved what he did with Google, Merrill was probably looking for the next challenge and found a great match in EMI.
The difference between a leader and a manager is that a manager interprets laws whereas a leader creates them. A manager can be looked upon to sustain an organization, whereas a leader shapes an organization.

Google still has a lot of room to grow, but it is a leader and an ideal for many. Merrill I guess was looking to challenge himself to see if he could shape a relatively low performer into a leadership position - and EMI glared him in the eye. He will step into EMI with a guarantee of a big return, so can we be envious of the investment in him? It sure must have been a premium.

Merrill could simply be playing the 21st Century executive career game and making the most of it.

If he started at Google in 2003 and it's now 2008, that puts him within the modern 3-to-5 year range of staying at a position. Staying shorter than that brands you a job hopper (even in an age where loyalty is dead bidirectionally.) Staying longer brands you unambitious. When you're at the top of your game at a highly revered firm, you can parlay that into other opportunities and appear attractive.

EMI itself benefits from the White Knight Theory. They may have expressed that to Merrill in terms appealing to Merrill beyond monetary compensation. The White Knight Theory is the one that says that long before you ever bother developing talent from within, pirate it from the outside! That way, you get to paint your company as something really special when the titan from the outside joins your team. Getting recognized at Google only went so far among so many smart people. Getting recognized at EMI in a specialty like music for a musician can be far more impacting, especially when you've got the riches to ditch the "starving" profile.

It's all corporate gamesmanship at its finest, and when Merrill was touched by executive recruiters in painted-on jeans on the cover of Fast Company, that must have given international erections to global talent headhunters.

Merrill could simply be playing the 21st Century executive career game and making the most of it.

If he started at Google in 2003 and it's now 2008, that puts him within the modern 3-to-5 year range of staying at a position. Staying shorter than that brands you a job hopper (even in an age where loyalty is dead bidirectionally.) Staying longer brands you unambitious. When you're at the top of your game at a highly revered firm, you can parlay that into other opportunities and appear attractive.

EMI itself benefits from the White Knight Theory. They may have expressed that to Merrill in terms appealing to Merrill beyond monetary compensation. The White Knight Theory is the one that says that long before you ever bother developing talent from within, pirate it from the outside! That way, you get to paint your company as something really special when the titan from the outside joins your team. Getting recognized at Google only went so far among so many smart people. Getting recognized at EMI in a specialty like music for a musician can be far more impacting, especially when you've got the riches to ditch the "starving" profile.

It's all corporate gamesmanship at its finest, and when Merrill was touched by executive recruiters in painted-on jeans on the cover of Fast Company, that must have given international erections to global talent headhunters.

Outsourcing has so many benefits:
1) Cost Savings
2) Time Zone Benefits
3) Quick Turn Around Time
4) Standardizing Business Processes
and many more....

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Merril's departure for Google is a good thing at the end of the day. He was a strange and non-typical CIO - even for Google's culture. Many sitting CIOs (as I am) have heard him speak and wondered how he got the job in the first place. Bravo to Google for letting him go and God help EMI...