• Reuters, Monday, April 18, 2011 12:13 PM

Putting Google's entire future at risk, returning CEO Larry Page clearly set the wrong tone with Wall Street last week. During a post-earnings conference call, "Page came on the line for a few minutes, expressed his optimism in the company, then signed off without entertaining questions on a stunning 54% cost spike," Reuters reports.

That performance, writes Reuters, "set the tone for a strained relationship with Wall Street that could haunt [Page] for years." Furthermore, Page "risks alienating a powerful investor constituency that will be crucial to his efforts to ensure Google remains at the top of its game," industry observers tell Reuters.

In response, Wall Street sold Google's stock down more than 8% on Friday, wiping out $15 billion in value -- devaluing Page's own holdings in the company -- and setting a record for the biggest single-day decline since December 2008.

Read the whole story at Reuters »