Sergey Brin's naivete

It was bizarre enough that Google invested in Anne Wojcicki, the wife of one of the search engine's founders. As we noted, yesterday, even if Sergey Brin had nothing to do with the decision, directly, Google execs could hardly have turned down his wife's personal genetics project, 23 and Me. Now the New York Times reports that the Google billionaire had in fact personally loaned his then-fiancee's company $2.6m, which is being paid back, with money raised, in part, from Google. So let's get this straight: Brin bankrolls his girlfriend's initial costs, and then Google covers him. Even if Mountain View execs invested in 23 and Me on business grounds, they should have been aware of the inevitable appearance of impropriety. Sergey Brin, who famously mandated Google to avoid evil, is anything but corrupt. Worth $14bn, he really doesn't need to be. But, in entangling Google's affairs, with those of his wife, he's demonstrated naivete that, at this stage in the search giant's evolution, is no longer cute. It's simply naive.

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