I don't understand the problem. Was he expecting a $100m acquisition and was upset it was only $2m? Feels like an overly aggressive reaction to something most people would only dream of.
I read it as if he was speculating and drew conclusions based on that. I also fail to see how they masked the purpose. Again, what was he expecting exactly?
Exactly. It sounds to me like Google was possibly interested in purchasing the company, put out feelers, got a way-too-high asking price, and then lost interest.
I'm not sure I buy the whole "faked identities" thing, but even if it's true, I fail to see why it's such an outrage. It doesn't seem any more harmful than me telling them, "I need to check with my family" as a way of buying time to consider a relocation. People hide things or offer misdirections to improve their standing in a negotiation. That's just the way things work. It sounds like, at worst, the Google people were pretty straightforward once they'd gotten past the initial information gathering bit.
Why would you feel the need to lie and say 'I need to check with my family', rather than just tell the truth with something like 'I need time to consider whether that suits me."?
>Was he expecting a $100m acquisition and was upset it was only $2m?
There's absolutely no evidence that $2 million was ever on offer. What they wanted all along was for him to come in for an interview for a job...which he may have flubbed even if he had acquiesced. Lots of bright developers "flub" Google interviews.
> Google initially was talking about an investment or purchase
I don't see anything like that. Also, what’s the difference between a purchase and acquihire in this case? Both would surely mean an employment at Google.
$2M is basically a large signing bonus. I think for most companies, like Google, FB, et al, something like $2M doesn't even need board signoff, it's basically a restricted stock grant as a bonus with clawback provisions.