Employees of Google’s Self-Driving Car Project Quit Because They Were Paid Too Much

Members of Google’s self-driving car initiative, which broke and became Waymo in December 2016, have been leaving the project for a variety of reasons — and one of them is being paid too much money.

Early Waymo staff members were compensated with an unusual system, one that awarded huge payouts based on the project’s total value, according to Bloomberg. Some of those payouts are estimated to be “multi-million-dollar” payments.

While this report flies in the face of traditional business wisdom, some of the veteran staff members had been paid so much money that they didn’t need the job security the company was giving them anymore — allowing them to open up to other opportunities, according to sources cited by Bloomberg. Reportedly, two people familiar with the situation called it “F-you money.”

Allegedly, the payouts were so high that they could have been one reason that Alphabet’s operating expenses rose 14 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015. In a conference call with analysts in 2016, Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat possibly referred to the added expenses as resulting from “project milestones in other bets.”

The number of people leaving the company only increased last year, according to Bloomberg — reportedly also due to the “pace of progress” or doubts about the initiative’s new leader, John Krafcik.

Some high-profile departures include former project leader Chris Urmson, who left Alphabet to work on his own startup, according to Recode, and several members who went on to form Otto, a self-driving transportation company that was acquired by Uber in summer 2015.

Waymo’s dwindling talent pool could give its competitors, including Apple’s Project Titan, some extra breathing room. That’s something that is important to note, as Waymo has long been seen to have a testing advantage over other self-driving car initiatives. If the company’s “talent exodus” continues, then the playing field might level out in the future.