Overview
Pending Larry Quote is a note left at the top of a press release containing the third-quarter earnings report for the multinational Internet and software corporation Google, which was prematurely released by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in October 2012. Written in all-capital letters and meant to be for internal use only, the discovery of the note quickly inspired the creation of the #PendingLarryQuote hashtag and the parody profile @PendingLarry on the microblogging site Twitter.
Background
On October 18th, 2012, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission[1] posted Google’s third-quarter earnings several hours before it was scheduled for release on the web. Aside from the company’s disappointing revenue figures, it was also discovered that a placeholder for a pending quote from Google CEO Larry Page was mistakenly left intact at the top of the press release, reading “PENDING LARRY QUOTE.” Although not directly related to the memo, Google shares dropped nine percent in value on that day before stock exchange trading was temporarily halted.
Notable Developments
On Twitter
Shortly after the earnings report was released, the hashtag #PendingLarryQuote began circulating on Twitter, often accompanied by tweets mocking the press release note. The same day, The @PendingLarry novelty Twitter account was created, featuring humorous tweets about the earnings report from the perspective of Larry Page. Also on October 18th, the business news blog InvestorPlace[3] published a post titled “The Top 5 ‘Pending Larry’ Tweets,” which highlighted several notable examples from the @PendingLarry feed.
…oops.
— Pending Larry (@PendingLarry) October 18, 2012
News Media Coverage
The same day, the blunder was reported by a number of traditional news media outlets, including NPR,[4] The Wall Street Journal,[5]CNBC,[7] and Forbes,[11] and several Internet news and tech blogs, including BuzzFeed,[2] Mashable[10] and CNET.[6] Many of the news reports noted how the press release place holder was gaining momentum as an in-joke online.
Twitter Feed
Search Interest
Not available.
External References
[1]SEC.gov – Press Release
[2] BuzzFeed – Why Google Could Be In Serioues Trouble
[3] Investor Place – The Top 5 Pending Larry Tweets
[4]NPR – Google’s Stock Drops After Premature Release
[5] The Wall Street Journal – Pending Larry – Google CEO Goes From Silent to Meme
[6]CNET – Pending Larry Joins Big Bird and Romney Binders on Twitter
[7]CNBC – Pending Larry From Googles Earnings Release Goes Viral
[8] Twitter – @PendingLarry
[9] The Wall Street Journal – Pending Larry Quote Best Part of Google Results
[10] Mashable – Pending Larry Goes Viral After Google Fail
[11] Forbes – Internet Meme Du Jour Pending Larry Quote
[12] Topsy – #pendinglarryquote