Sundar Pichai Testifies in $600 Million Fraud Case and Ozy Media Acquisition Is Questioned

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company, testified in the ongoing fraud case against Ozy Media co-founder Carlos Watson. Pichai’s testimony directly undermined Watson’s claims that Google was interested in acquiring Ozy.

Watson is accused of defrauding investors by exaggerating Ozy’s commercial success. Also central to the scheme was the false claim that Google intended to buy Ozy for “hundreds of millions of dollars.”

Ozy, a well-known media company, already fell once when the New York Times revealed that Chief Operating Officer Sameer Rao posed as a top YouTube official during a conversation with Goldman Sachs financiers. The move was part of Watson and Rao’s attempt to deceive investors into believing Ozy was a profitable business.

Although Google never considered acquiring Ozy, Pichai admitted to considering Watson for the news leadership position. The hire could result in a $25 million investment in Ozy, although it is not being advertised as a takeover bid.

Under cross-examination by prosecutor Dylan Stern, Pichai categorically denied offering $600 million to buy Ozy Media.

According to prosecutors, Watson used a fabricated Google offer to lure another investor after a failed deal with Goldman Sachs.

Stern said Watson found another victim and talked them into investing $20 million in Ozy by telling them that the Google CEO himself had offered to buy Ozy for hundreds of millions of dollars. It was a lie. But Watson didn’t let the truth get in his way.

Despite Watson’s alleged claims of a close relationship with the Google CEO, Pichai said they only met twice. The case highlights the harmful consequences of investor fraud and the importance of ethical business practices. The trial is currently ongoing and the court is assessing the evidence presented by both sides.