Have you ever wondered how much control Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin still have over the search engine they created back in 1998? Despite no longer actively managing operations, the two geniuses behind Google still wield immense influence over the direction of tech giant Alphabet and its subsidiary Google thanks to their majority-control of special supervoting shares.
In this comprehensive overview, we’ll analyze exactly how much of Alphabet and Google the founders still own over two decades later as well as how they leverage that stake for lasting impact.
The Origin Story Behind Silicon Valley Pioneers Page and Brin
Before diving into the ownership breakdowns, it helps set the backdrop by understanding Page and Brin’s history shaping Google from a tiny Stanford startup into a world-dominating search leader.
Larry Page and Sergey Brin first crossed paths in 1995 as PhD students in a Stanford computer science program. Together they authored academic papers on data mining and the mathematics of the web.
In 1998, they decided business opportunities were ripe to launch an actual search engine using their algorithms. Along with investments from family and friends as well as a critical $100,000 check from Sun Microsystems co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim, Page and Brin incorporated their new company Google Inc.
Google’s breakthrough PageRank algorithm organized information across the messy early internet while still in beta testing at Stanford. Its uniquely useful search results soon attracted venture capital offers and users at an astronomical rate.
Investments from Kleiner Perkins and Sequoia Capital in 1999 coincided with Google expanding out of its Menlo Park garage office to its current Mountain View headquarters. Page and Brin brought aboard seasoned Silicon Valley operator – and soon to be billionaire himself – Eric Schmidt from Novell as Chairman and CEO in 2001 to handle growing business complexities so the founders could focus more wholly on driving innovation in web search.
And focus they did – by the time Google conducted its high-profile initial public stock offering in 2004, it was fielding 200 million searches daily and achieved near instant profitability and soaring valuation.
Today, Google reigns over its parent company Alphabet’s dominant portfolio of web services and technologies that include YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Cloud and more alongside its namesake search engine. Over 3.5 billion global Google searches now stream daily – a more than 17-fold increase in under 20 years.
All the while, Page and Brin have steered their creation as influential visionaries, leveraging special controlling stakes we’ll analyze next.
Breaking Down Alphabet‘s Share Classes
To retain influence over Google, Page and Brin developed a creative stock structure for what eventually became rebranded parent company Alphabet. There are three share types, summarized below:
| Share Type | Symbol | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| Class A Common Stock | GOOGL | – Publicly traded – 1 vote per share |
| Class B Common Stock | n/a | – Not publicly traded – 10 votes per share – Mainly held by founders |
| Class C Capital Stock | GOOG | – Publicly traded – No voting rights |
This multi-tiered structure allows Page and Brin to control voting power while owning a minority stake in the company. The Class B shares with 10x voting abilities are key – we’ll analyze next who holds these crucial shares.
In developing this share split, Page and Brin actually pulled inspiration from famed investor Warren Buffett and his company Berkshire Hathaway, which utilizes a similar structure. When concerns arose before Google’s IPO about potentially losing decision-making control, Buffett advised instituting dual share classes to concentrate voting power.
Larry Page Controls 26.3% Voting Power
Thanks to his hefty cache of special Class B shares, current Alphabet Board of Directors member Larry Page holds a formidable 26.3% voting stake in the company he co-founded.
Here’s how Page’s ownership shakes out:
- Class B Common Stock: 389 million shares
- Class C Capital Stock: 390 million shares
- Total Ownership Stake: 6.1%
- Voting Power: 26.3%
To put this into context, Page’s 26.3% of Alphabet voting power compares to just 0.58% held by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in his company. Pages’ Publically disclosed net worth recently crested $87 billion, making him the 9th wealthiest human on earth as of early 2023.
Sergey Brin Claims 24.9% Votes
Fellow co-founder Sergey Brin controls nearly as much voting influence as Page, topping out at 24.9% thanks to a cache of high-powered Class B shares.
- Class B Common Stock: 369 million shares
- Class C Capital Stock: 370 million shares
- Total Ownership Stake: 5.7%
- Voting Power: 24.9%
Brin’s current estimated $84 billion net worth slots him 11th among the world‘s richest.
Together, Page and Brin’s special Class B share stakes afford them majority control with over 51% combined voting power. This concentration is unmatched at tech industry peers like Apple (0.03% for Tim Cook) and Microsoft (1.3% for Bill Gates) and provides sweeping influence over Alphabet’s direction.
Schmidt, Hennessy & Institutions Also Factor In
While Page and Brin are clearly the dominant voting forces, other insider and institutional shareholders also hold sway:
Eric Schmidt – 4.2% votes
Alphabet’s former CEO and current technical advisor maintains significance influence with 5.6 million Class B shares.
John L. Hennessy – 4.1% votes
Alphabet Board of Directors chairman owns 5.5 million Class B shares.
Vanguard Group – 7.07% ownership, 3.3% votes
The investor management group is Alphabet’s largest institutional shareholder with massive $82 billion position.
Blackrock – 6.10% ownership, 2.8% votes
The world’s largest asset manager has Alphabet stake worth over $71 billion.
While more dispersed, large institutional holders represent key voting interest groups, as do former Alphabet executives like Schmidt with major supervoting stakes.
The Founders Leave Lasting Impacts
While no longer involved in day-to-day operations, Larry Page and Sergey Brin use their majority control of special supervoting shares to guide Alphabet’s trajectory through handpicked board members and influence on major initiatives.
Their vision lives on through recent ambitious investments expanding internet access globally via balloon-powered Project Loon and exploring radical life extension technologies with anti-aging startup Calico.
Twenty years removed from first incorporating Google, Page and Brin continue directing over 92% of the planet’s web searches towards ever greater innovation. By retaining ironclad control, the generational minds behind search aim to continue organizing the world’s information to make it universally accessible and useful better than anyone else possibly could. Their enduringinfluence reigns thanks to forward-focused control of special founder shares detailed here.
