It was dead the moment they let investors in
They had investors before they even incorporated:
> Bechtolsheim and Cheriton were two of the first investors in Google, investing US$100,000 each in September 1998. When he gave the check to Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google's founders, the company had not yet been legally incorporated.
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Bechtolsheim#Investments
I didn't know McDonnell Douglas was such a bad company but I heard the same sentiment from Boeing people in that documentary about the 737 MAX, that after the merger they were being forced to cut corners by the new management.