The entrepreneur made one of the most celebrated investments in the history of Silicon Valley — the initial $100,000 that bankrolled a search engine called Google in 1998 — while on the way to work one morning.
Twenty one years later, Mr. Bechtolsheim may have seized a different kind of opportunity.
The history of Silicon Valley is full of big bets and abrupt downfalls, but rarely has anyone traded his reputation for seemingly so little reward.
For Mr. Bechtolsheim, $415,726 was equivalent to a quarter rolling behind the couch.
Last month, Mr. Bechtolsheim, 68, settled the insider trading charges without admitting wrongdoing.
Persons:
Andreas Bechtolsheim doesn’t, Bechtolsheim
Organizations:
Google, Securities and Exchange Commission, Bloomberg
Locations:
Silicon