Sundar Pichai, the chief executive of Google, said in a New York courtroom on Friday that he never discussed a possible takeover of Ozy Media.
The government alleged in court filings and at trial that Mr. Watson falsely claimed to a prospective investor that Ozy had received a $600 million takeover offer from Google.
Mr. Pichai said he interviewed Mr. Watson in February 2021 for a full-time role managing Google’s relationships with news publishers.
To accept the role, Mr. Watson would have had to step down from Ozy, which Google recognized could harm the digital media start-up, another Google executive testified on Thursday.
As part of the hiring discussions, Google considered investing about $25 million in Ozy “to help with the transition,” Mr. Pichai testified when he briefly took the stand.
Persons:
Sundar Pichai, Pichai, Carlos Watson, Ozy, Watson, “, Mr
Organizations:
Google, Ozy Media
Locations:
New York, Ozy