Why Stanford Is Celebrating The Google IPO
Stanford University won three ways by betting on Google Inc.
Not only did the California school have the smarts to admit the company's co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, into its computer-science doctoral program, turning the pair into a magnet to draw the best and the brightest, but the university put its money behind their venture.
After last week's initial public offering, Stanford is left with 7,574 shares of Class A Google stock and 1,650,289 shares of Class B stock, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Those holdings are valued at $179.5 million. The university's trustees sold 184,207 shares, earning a quick $15.6 million.
The university owns key technology used by Google that was developed at Stanford. Google paid the university in stock and cash for an exclusive licensing partnership, plus annual royalties. That agreement expires in 2011.
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Stanford also is poised to reap a windfall from its investments in the company placed through two of Silicon Valley's top venture-capital firms. Together, those holdings could bring the university a second windfall of more than $200 million, depending on how the stock performs, people familiar with the situation say.
Overall, the university earned royalties of $43.2 million from licensed technology in 2003, according to its Office of Technology Licensing annual report for fiscal year 2002-2003; only a fraction of it came from Google. According to the report, the licensing office takes 15% of royalty revenue to cover its expenses, then the remaining revenue is divided among the inventors, their university departments and their university schools. Of the Google equity stake, one-third goes to the inventors and the remaining two-thirds to a university research and fellowship fund, according to Katharine Ku, director of the Office of Technology Licensing and the Industrial Contracts Office.
Messrs. Brin and Page are hardly the only Stanford luminaries who will enjoy a Google profit. In March, Stanford President John Hennessy assumed a seat on Google's board that brought with it 65,000 shares. The shares are valued at $7.04 million based on Friday's closing price.
Other faculty also own stock or options, either through a personal investment in the company or because of their work as technical advisers. Last week, computer-science professor David R. Cheriton sold 340,436 of his 3,404,360 shares, earning $28,937,060.
To date, Stanford holds an equity stake in 80 companies, out of about 1,200 that got their start on campus, or by a Stanford alum, faculty or staff, according to the university. They include big names such as Sun Microsystems Inc., Cisco Systems Inc. and Yahoo Inc. Among U.S. universities, it stands fifth, after Columbia University, the University of California System, New York University and Florida State University, in technology-licensing and equity revenue, according to the Association for University Technology Managers.
It is that kind of success that is prompting more colleges and universities to launch technology-transfer offices hoping that their best minds will produce a hit like Google. Some already have made waves with unconventional products: A University of Florida spokesman says the school has earned $94.1 million over 30 years from licensing the formula and trademark for Gatorade, a drink invented by a kidney-disease specialist at its College of Medicine in 1965.
IDEA LABS
A few recent university innovations:
? Taxol cancer drug, Univ. of Florida, 1998
? Lycos search engine, Carnegie Mellon, 1999
? Polywood synthetic lumber, Rutgers, 2000
? PawPaw Lice Remover shampoo, Purdue, 2001
? SpeechEasy anti-stuttering device, East Carolina Univ., 2002
Source: Association of University Technology Managers
Before 1980, when a federal law was passed to permit universities to own and patent inventions developed under federal research programs, fewer than 250 patents were issued to U.S. universities, according to the Association for University Technology Managers, which has seen its membership expand to 3,159 in 2003 from 470 in 1985. The pace for new patents grew 77% between 1991 and 1999.
Like many schools, the California Institute of Technology had a very academic view of itself. Then, in 1995, it started to encourage faculty to patent more technology for commercial gains. Since then, the school has launched 70 companies in which it has an equity stake, according to Scott R. Carter, assistant director of Caltech's Office of Technology Transfer. Last year, he says, Caltech claimed credit for 139 patents issued by the U.S. Patent Office, more than any other single campus.
Former Harvard University President Derek Bok cautioned against moving toward commercialization too fast in a book he published last year titled, "Universities in the Marketplace: The Commercialization of Higher Education." At Tufts University, Sheldon Krimsky also examined the growing trend in his book "Science in the Public Interest," also published last year. "Because of a few significant gains by a few universities ... others feel inclined to jump on the tech-transfer bandwagon," Mr. Krimsky says, adding: "There are very few universities that can get a windfall profit from a patent or equity investment in a company."
Mr. Krimsky also points to conflicts of interest that can arise when professors co-found companies and are too busy to teach or mentor students, or keep discoveries secret rather than publishing them quickly. "When you allow the faculty to earn substantial amounts outside the university, it distorts the mission of the university. It becomes a place to leverage money rather than as a place to educate young people and produce basic knowledge," he says.
Indeed, outside of Silicon Valley, some are raising eyebrows at Mr. Hennessy's Google holdings. Charles M. Elson, a corporate-governance expert at the University of Delaware, wonders: "Can he remain independent? Is there any expectation that the [Google] founders will be contributors to Stanford? If substantial sums of money are expected from them or solicited from them, that raises independence questions."
Stanford spokesman Gordon W. Earle says in an e-mail, "John Hennessy serves on the Google board of directors in a personal capacity. He does not participate in any decisions concerning Stanford University and Google, and Google does not disclose to the university any information about Google."
Stanford itself sells its equity stakes as soon as it can in order to skirt conflicts. The university must wait for "lockup periods," traditionally 180 days. In Google's case lockup windows will open in 15, 90, 120, 150 and 180 days. Mr. Earle declines to say when Stanford will sell the shares, citing university policy.
Still, some worry about the increase in corporate-backed research on campus, especially given that Stanford is such an integral part of the Silicon Valley ecosystem. Stanford's Office of Technology Licensing says in its most recent annual report that the university's Industrial Contracts Office has worked with more than 150 companies, "a growing number of them overseas."
In Silicon Valley, many industry players view the Google IPO as a boost for entrepreneurship. "I think it will inspire more Stanford students to go start companies rather than go to McKinsey," the consulting firm, says David Ladd, a general partner at Mayfield, a venture-capital firm located near the university campus.
斯坦福大学押宝Google终结硕果
斯坦福大学(STANFORD UNIVERSITY)押宝Google Inc.走了三步好棋。
首先是这家位于加利福尼亚的大学明智地录取了Google的联合创始人赛吉?布林(Sergey Brin)和拉里?佩奇(Larry Page)攻读其电脑科学博士课程，然后将此二人变成了学校吸引最优秀和最聪明人才的吸铁石，此后学校还为他们创建的企业进行了投资。
据美国证券交易委员会(Securities and Exchange Commission,SEC)的文件显示，在上周Google的首次公开募股(IPO)之后，斯坦福手中持有Google 7,574股A股和1,650,289股B股股票。这些股票的总价值为1.795亿美元。该学校的托管人出售了184,207股股票，转瞬之间就有1,560万美元进帐。
Google目前所使用的关键技术是在斯坦福开发的，斯坦福大学拥有这项技术的所有权。Google向该大学支付股票和现金以取得独家使用权，此外Google每年还要交付特许权费用。该协议将在2011年到期。
斯坦福还通过矽谷两家顶尖风险投资公司对Google进行了投资，现在它也准备收获投资的硕果。据消息人士透露，这些投资能够给该大学再带来总计超过2亿美元的收入，当然这要取决于股票表现。
据斯坦福技术授权办公室(Office of Technology Licensing)2002-2003财年年度报告，斯坦福在2003年获得了4,320万美元的特许权收入；这其中只有一部分来自于Google。该报告称，技术授权办公室从特许权收入中拿出15%冲抵成本，剩余部分在投资者、学校各系和各学院之间分配。据技术授权办公室和Industrial Contracts Office的主管卡萨瑞恩?库(Katharine Ku)称，所获得的Google股权中，有三分之一分给了投资者，剩余三分之二分给了学校的一个研究和奖学基金。
布林和佩奇绝不是分享Google盈利的仅有的两个斯坦福名人。今年3月份，斯坦福大学校长约翰?赫尼斯(John Hennessy)获得了Google董事会的一个席位以及65,000股股票。按照上周五收盘价计算，这些股票的价值为704万美元。
学校其他教员通过个人投资或给该公司担任技术顾问也拥有了股票或期权。上周，电脑科学系教授戴维?切瑞顿(David R. Cheriton)出售了其3,404,360持股中的340,436股，套现所得28,937,060美元。
大学表示，迄今为止，斯坦福在校园创建的或是由校友、教员或职员创建的公司有1,200家左右，斯坦福对其中80家公司持有股份。其中一些公司赫赫有名，比如Sun电子计算机公司(Sun Microsystems Inc.，又名：升阳微电脑)、思科系统(Cisco Systems Inc.)和雅虎(Yahoo Inc.)。据Association for University Technology Managers称，在美国大学按技术授权和股权收入进行的排名中，斯坦福名列第五，位居哥伦比亚大学(Columbia University)、University of California System、纽约大学(New York University)和佛罗里达州立大学(Florida State University)之后。
这一模式的成功导致更多学院和大学设立技术转让办公室，以期望一些佼佼者能够创立像Google这样的公司。其中一些大学在非传统产品方面已取得成绩：佛罗里达大学(University of Florida)的一位发言人称，该学校在过去30年通过转让Gatorade的配方和商标授权获得了9,410万美元的收入，Gatorade是其医学院的一位肾病专家在1965年发明的饮料。
美国1980年通过的一项联邦法律允许大学拥有在联邦研究项目中的发明及其专利权，据Association for University Technology Managers称，在此之前，美国大学只获得不到250个专利权。1991年至1999年之间，新专利的注册数量增长了77%。Association for University Technology Managers的成员数量也从1985年的470个增加到了3,159个。
象许多学校一样，加州理工学院(California Institute of Technology)曾经自认是一个学术圣地，而在1995年，它开始鼓励教员注册更多专利以获取商业利益。加州理工学院技术转让办公室的主任助理斯科特?卡特(Scott R. Carter)说，自此之后，该学校开办了70家公司，并在其中持有股权。他说，去年加州理工学院从美国专利局(the U.S. Patent Office)获得139项专利，数量超过了其它任何一所学校。
哈佛大学(Harvard University)前校长德莱克?伯克(Derek Bok)在他去年出版的《市场中的大学：高等教育的商业化》(Universities in the Marketplace: The Commercialization of Higher Education)一书中对大学过快迈向商业化提出警告。Tufts University的谢尔顿?克瑞姆斯基(Sheldon Krimsky)在其去年出版的著作《公共利益中的科学》(Science in the Public Interest)一书中，也对这一渐成风气的趋势进行了研究。克瑞姆斯基称，“由于一些大学取得良好收益...其它大学对于加入这一队伍跃跃欲试。”他补充道，“只有很少的大学能够从对一家公司的专利或股权投资中大发横财。”
克瑞姆斯基还指出，当教授联合创建公司并且无法抽取时间教学或辅导学生时，或者当其对新发现保密而不是迅速对外公布时，利益冲突就会产生。他说，“当你允许教员在校园外面大赚特赚时，大学的任务就会被扭曲。大学成为一个捞钱而不是教育年轻人并创造基本学知的场所。”
实际上，在矽谷以外地区，一些人对赫尼斯持有Google股份颇有微词。University of Delaware的公司治理专家查里斯?埃尔森(Charles M. Elson)问道：他能够保持独立性吗？他是否期望Google创始人成为斯坦福的捐助人？如果期望他们捐出或者向其索要巨资，那么独立性就会成为一个问题。”
斯坦福发言人高登?伊埃尔勒(Gordon W. Earle)在一封电子邮件中表示，“约翰?赫尼斯以其个人名义在Google董事会任职。他不参与任何涉及斯坦福大学和Google的决策，Google不向斯坦福大学透露任何关于该公司的信息。”
斯坦福为了避开利益冲突，会以最快速度抛售在Google的持股。这所大学必须等待传统上为180天的“禁售期”。Google股票的禁售期有15、90、120、150和180天。伊埃尔勒援引学校政策拒绝透露斯坦福何时会抛售股票。
但是，仍然有一些人对校园内公司支持的研究项目的增多表示担忧，特别是斯坦福是矽谷生态体系中的一个重要组成部分。斯坦福技术授权办公室在其最新的年度报告中称，学校的Industrial Contracts Office与150多家公司进行合作，其中海外公司的数量较以往增多。
在矽谷，许多公司认为Google的IPO对创业者是一个鼓舞。邻近斯坦福校园的风险投资公司Mayfield的普通合伙人戴维?莱德(David Ladd)说，“我认为这将激励更多斯坦福学生选择创业而不是去像麦肯锡(McKinsey)这样的咨询公司。”
