Google’s longtime display ad honcho Neal Mohan made headlines last week when Re/code’s Kara Swisher reported, and AdExchanger repeated, that he might soon leave the company to take a plum job running product at Dropbox.
Not so, it turns out.
On Monday, a Google rep confirmed to AdExchanger that Mohan will stay on at Google’s DoubleClick division for the foreseeable future.
Rumors have swirled of a Mohan exit since Sridhar Ramaswamy took control of Google’s display ad business last year. And those rumors recently gained steam when Google made some big promotions, including boosting longtime DoubleClick product management director Brad Bender to VP of product management, that hinted at a possible succession plan.
Dropbox’s failed attempt to hire Mohan solidifies his reputation as the industry’s preeminent not-quite-poachable digital advertising executive. Four years ago Mohan was reportedly close to accepting a product role at Twitter, but stayed put when Google successfully countered with $100 million in stock.
Details of what Google may have offered to sweeten the pot for Mohan this time around are unknown.