Google eventually found out about Levandowski’s ruse. Instead of firing him, Google decided to buy Levandowski’s startup for $20 million. Side hustles like 510 Systems defined Levandowski. He liked money, but what he liked more was finding hacks and work-arounds. Levandowski may have labored at a giant corporation, but he was still a scrappy startup guy at heart. Building a business and selling it back to Google was validating; he had found a hole in the 20 percent time system, exploited it, and won. The $20 million windfall was good, too.
