This framework allows experimental projects like Waymo and Verily to operate with distinct management teams while Google focuses on core internet services including search, advertising, and cloud computing. Alphabet Inc. owns Google through a corporate structure established in October 2015. The restructuring separated Google’s core internet business from experimental ventures while maintaining founder control through a dual-class share system. Today, YouTube’s ownership landscape is far more complex, with stakeholders ranging from Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., to individual content creators and advertisers who invest their time and resources into the platform.
Alphabet Inc. Parent Structure
This modest equity stake translates to 51.7% of all voting rights through their Class B super-voting shares. The founders stepped back from daily executive responsibilities in December 2019 but remain board members and controlling shareholders. Most public companies operate on the principle of “one share, one vote.” But Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has a unique governance structure that grants a small group of insiders near-absolute control. This control stems from the existence of Class B shares, which hold ten times the voting power of ordinary Class A shares. Google is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., a publicly traded corporation with a market capitalization of $2.4 trillion.
Legacy of Founders of Google
Most top institutional investors of any publicly traded company (especially larger ones) are companies that offer index funds and have to own enough shares to represent the stock’s position in the index. And that’s the case for each of the five largest institutions that owned Alphabet stock as of late 2025. Larry Page and Sergey Brin own about 14% of Google’s publicly listed shares and 56% of the company’s super-voting stock. On September 23, 2025, Alphabet announced that it would reinstate YouTube creators that were banned for spreading misinformation about who own google now COVID-19 and the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
Who Owns Costco Stores?
Later in 2019, some workers accused the company of retaliating against internal activists. On October 9, 2006, Google acquired YouTube for $1.65 billion in Google stock, On July 20, 2007, Google bids $4.6 billion for the wireless-spectrum auction by the FCC. On March 11, 2008, Google acquired DoubleClick for $3.1 billion, transferring to Google valuable relationships that DoubleClick had with Web publishers and advertising agencies. To handle this workload, Google built 11 data centers around the world with several thousand servers in each.
Who is the CEO of YouTube?
- I will show you who Alphabet’s largest shareholders are, how many shares and votes they have, and how much their stake is worth.
- While there may not be one single individual or group who completely “owns” Google, its various owners can rest assured knowing that they are helping support one of the world’s largest tech companies with their investments.
- The lawsuit alleged that Google engaged in anticompetitive behavior by paying Apple between $8 billion and $12 billion to be the default search engine on iPhones.
- Over the years, while the ownership of Google has slightly changed, one thing has remained constant, control and ownership by its founders.
- These include asset management giants like The Vanguard Group, BlackRock, and Fidelity Investments.
They also began using any computer part they could find to assemble the necessary computing power to handle searches by multiple users. As their search engine grew in popularity among Stanford users, it required additional servers to process the queries. In August 1996, the initial version of Google, still on the Stanford University website, was made available to Internet users. Over the years, while the ownership of Google has slightly changed, one thing has remained constant, control and ownership by its founders. The company’s control is still in the hands of the two co-founders, Page and Brin.
Google indexes billions of web pages to allow users to search for the information they desire through the use of keywords and operators. According to comScore market research from November 2009, Google Search is the dominant search engine in the United States market, with a market share of 65.6%. In May 2017, Google enabled a new «Personal» tab in Google Search, letting users search for content in their Google accounts’ various services, including email messages from Gmail and photos from Google Photos. On October 25, 2018, The New York Times published the exposé, «How Google Protected Andy Rubin, the ‘Father of Android'». The company subsequently announced that «48 employees have been fired over the last two years» for sexual misconduct. On November 1, 2018, more than 20,000 Google employees and contractors staged a global walk-out to protest the company’s handling of sexual harassment complaints.
The birth of Google’s “parent” company
These centers, which will be built in Columbus and Lancaster, will power up the company’s tools, including AI technology. The said data hub will add to the already operational center near Columbus, bringing Google’s total investment in Ohio to over $2 billion. In August 2024, Google would lose a lawsuit which started in 2020 in lower court, as it was found that the company had an illegal monopoly over Internet search. Circuit Court Judge Amit Mehta held that this monopoly was in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act. In September 2024, the Court of Justice of the European Union (EU), based in Luxembourg, also found that Google held an illegal monopoly, in this case with regards to its shopping search, and could not avoid paying a €2.4 billion fine. The EU Court of Justice found that Google’s treatment of rival shopping searches, which the court referred to as «discriminatory», was in violation of the Digital Markets Act.
- Their substantial holdings of Class B shares afford them extraordinary control over the company’s direction.
- This structure can raise concerns about accountability and transparency in decision-making, potentially affecting investor confidence.
- At the front porch of David’s home in Palo Alto and it had to be brief because Andy had another meeting at Cisco, where he now worked after the acquisition, at 9 a.m.
- Class B shares have ten votes per share and are primarily held by founders and insiders, giving them greater control.
- Alphabet Inc., founded by Google‘s co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, owns both YouTube and Google.
What Really Changes Now That Larry Page Is No Longer CEO Of Alphabet?
Larry Page and Sergey Brin control 51.7% of voting rights through Class B super-voting shares. Vanguard Group holds the largest publicly traded stake at 7.3% of total shares. R. Martin Chávez contributes technology and quantitative finance expertise from his career at Goldman Sachs. K. Ram Shriram, an early Google investor and board member since 1998, provides continuity and historical perspective on company evolution. John L. Hennessy serves as non-executive board chairman, bringing deep computer science knowledge from his tenure as Stanford University president.
Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin announced their resignation from their executive posts in December 2019, with the CEO role to be filled by Sundar Pichai, who is also the CEO of Google. Page and Brin remain employees, board members, and controlling shareholders of Alphabet Inc. Larry Page and Sergey Brin hold the most voting shares, mainly through Class B stock. Yes, Alphabet Inc. is Google’s parent company and owns all of Google’s business units.
In 2023, YouTube generated over $31 billion in revenue from advertising alone. YouTube is part of Google (now named Alphabet), and as such, it is owned by Google’s Alphabet shareholders and is one of the fastest-growing segments for the company. Over the years, Google’s ownership landscape has evolved, reflecting the dynamic nature of the company. While the co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, continue to hold substantial ownership stakes, their roles have shifted within Alphabet Inc. Larry Page stepped down as CEO in 2019 but remains a key figure in the company’s strategic decisions. Sergey Brin also transitioned to a different role within Alphabet Inc., further reshaping the ownership landscape.
The decision of Alphabet to bring back YouTube creators who engaged in misinformation was criticized for prioritizing «free expression» over «facts». In October 2020, the United States Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Alphabet, alleging anti-competitive practices. On 2 December 2020, the National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint that claimed Alphabet Inc conducted unlawful monitoring and questioning of several workers at Google. The employees in question were fired for unionization attempts and protesting company policies. The board also alleges that Google unlawfully placed employees on administrative leave in retribution.
The company’s products include smartwatches/fitness trackers, the Fitbit app, and related gear, accessories, and services. Google announced its intent to purchase publicly traded cybersecurity firm Mandiant, Inc. (MNDT) on March 8, 2022, for $23 per share—roughly $5.4 billion. The company, which focuses on cybersecurity testing and cyber-incident response, was folded into Google’s cloud computing business to help better secure cloud data. Alphabet has become one of the world’s largest technology conglomerates, with a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion as of October 23, 2025. The company posted a net income of $100.11 billion on revenue of $350.02 billion for 2024.
After the success of its original service, Google Search (often known simply as «Google»), the company has rapidly grown to offer a multitude of products and services. Many of these products and services are dominant in their respective industries, as is Google Search. Discontinued Google products include gaming (Stadia), Glass, Google+, Reader, Play Music, Nexus, Hangouts, and Inbox by Gmail. Google’s other ventures outside of internet services and consumer electronics include quantum computing (Willow), self-driving cars (Waymo), and transformer models (Google DeepMind). Google (Alphabet) has acquired about 262 companies in its lifetime, including YouTube, Waze, Fitbit, DoubleClick, and Mandiant.