Google Promises Compliance Overhaul
Google has agreed to spend $500 million over the next decade to overhaul its compliance operations, including a new board-level committee dedicated to regulatory compliance and multiple new compliance teams embedded across the 184,000-person enterprise. Google made that sweeping promise to settle a lawsuit from unhappy shareholders , who had sued the company for its numerous alleged antitrust violations over the years. The two sides reached a proposed settlement on Friday, although the federal district court judge presiding over the case still needs to give the deal her final blessing. The lawsuit was filed by a Michigan pension fund in 2021, which basically said that because Google and its board had exercised poor oversight of antitrust issues, the company lurched into widespread anti-competitive behaviors and ensuing regulatory probes, which have ended up costing Google a fortune. Those investors have a point; Google has endured one migraine after anothe...