Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin spend a lot of time traveling the world. As the top dogs of one of the top tech companies in the world, you can only imagine how many people they have to meet with and conferences they need to attend.
While most people would fly commercial from one destination to the next, that is not what you do when you are sitting on a pile of cash like these two guys. Instead, you have a fleet of private jets that makes it easy for you to reach your destination based on your own schedule, without all the stress of flying commercial.
For many years, Page and Brin have had an arrangement with the Pentagon that allowed them to purchase jet fuel at a steep discount. With how much traveling the two do, this was quite a bit of savings.
Time to Pay Full Price, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)
Unfortunately for the dynamic duo, the free (or cheap, at least) ride is coming to an end.
The agreement between the search engine company and the government got underway in 2007. However, it ended on August 31, 2013 when the National Aeronautics and Space Administration decided against renewing the deal.
The Wall Street Journal has shared some insight on this story, stating that in a letter from the Pentagon, there was concerns earlier in the year about whether or not the company was using the fuel for non-government flights.
Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa is none too happy with the way things played out in the past, and is now seeking an audit of the arrangement between the government and Google. His may concern is that some companies are getting special pricing on fuel when the same deal has not been made to other businesses.
Although the arrangement has come to an end, don’t expect this Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) story to go away anytime soon. There are a lot of people who want to know what was going on. There are a lot of people who feel that Google was given preferential treatment – and they are not going to let that die down without a fight.
Do you think this is a big deal? Or should Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) be able to move on without much of a hassle?
These hedge fund managers continue to invest heavily in Google, even if the company does have to pay for its own fuel: Robert Karr, Daniel Benton, Sandy Nairn, Gregory Bylinsky, and Christopher Hansen.
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