Who Owns Google? Alphabet, Larry Page, Sergey Brin and the Full Ownership Story

Who Owns Google?

Google is owned by its parent company, Alphabet Inc., which was created in 2015 as a corporate restructuring designed to separate Google’s core internet products from its longer-term experimental ventures. Alphabet is publicly traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbols GOOGL (Class A shares, which carry one vote each) and GOOG (Class C shares, which carry no voting rights), making it accessible to individual and institutional investors around the world. As of 2025, Alphabet ranks among the most valuable publicly traded companies globally, with a market capitalization that has regularly exceeded $2 trillion.

While Alphabet is technically owned by its millions of shareholders, two individuals retain commanding control of the company through a dual-class share structure. Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who co-founded Google in 1998 as PhD students at Stanford University, hold Class B shares that carry ten votes each. Although their combined economic ownership amounts to roughly 11–12% of the company, their supervoting shares give them approximately 51% of total shareholder voting power — effectively making every major strategic decision theirs to approve or veto. This structure insulates the founders from activist investors and hostile takeovers, a model adopted by many Silicon Valley companies.

Sundar Pichai has served as Google’s CEO since 2015 and was elevated to CEO of Alphabet in December 2019 when Larry Page stepped back from day-to-day management. Born in Chennai, India, Pichai joined Google in 2004 and led the development of Chrome, Android, and Google Apps before ascending to the top role. Institutional investors including Vanguard Group, BlackRock, and Fidelity Investments hold large stakes in Alphabet’s public shares but wield minimal voting influence compared to the founders.

About Alphabet and Its Co-Founders

Larry Page and Sergey Brin launched Google from a rented garage in Menlo Park, California in September 1998. The company went public in August 2004 at $85 per share — a price that split-adjusted has grown dramatically over the decades. In 2015, Page and Brin restructured Google into Alphabet Inc., separating the search and advertising business from moonshot divisions like Waymo (autonomous vehicles), Verily (life sciences), and Google DeepMind (artificial intelligence). Both founders remain on Alphabet’s board of directors and continue to be involved in high-level strategy, though Pichai manages the operational side. Alphabet’s portfolio today includes YouTube, Google Cloud, Android, Google Maps, Google Play, Waze, and Fitbit, among dozens of other products and services.

Key Ownership Highlights

• Supervoting Class B shares: Larry Page and Sergey Brin each hold Class B shares carrying 10 votes apiece. Together they control roughly 51% of Alphabet’s total shareholder voting power despite holding only about 11% of the economic interest, giving them effective veto authority over all major company decisions.
• Sundar Pichai’s role: As both Google CEO and Alphabet CEO since 2019, Sundar Pichai oversees day-to-day operations across Google Search, YouTube, Google Cloud, Android, and the company’s AI initiatives under Google DeepMind. He is one of the highest-paid executives in Silicon Valley.
• Massive institutional shareholding: Vanguard Group, BlackRock, and Fidelity are among the largest holders of GOOGL and GOOG shares. These institutional investors own significant economic stakes but have little voting power due to the dual-class structure.
• Alphabet’s 2015 restructuring: The creation of Alphabet allowed Google’s core advertising business to be separated from long-term bets like Waymo, Verily, and the Google Fiber project, each operating as distinct subsidiaries under the Alphabet umbrella with their own leadership teams.
• Global search dominance: Google Search controls over 90% of the global internet search market. YouTube is the world’s largest video platform and second-largest search engine by user query volume. Google Cloud is one of the top three cloud infrastructure providers globally alongside Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.

Google and Waze

Waze, the popular navigation app, is also part of Google’s portfolio. Read more in our Waze ownership story.

Google and Character.AI

Google also struck a major licensing deal with Character.AI. Read more in our Character.AI ownership breakdown.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who owns Google?

Google is owned by Alphabet Inc., its publicly traded parent company (NASDAQ: GOOGL, GOOG). While millions of investors hold Alphabet shares, co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin retain supervoting Class B shares that give them about 51% of voting power. Sundar Pichai is CEO of both Google and Alphabet Inc.

Is Google publicly traded?

Yes. Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company, is listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange under ticker symbols GOOGL (Class A voting shares) and GOOG (Class C non-voting shares). Alphabet has been publicly traded since its IPO in August 2004.

Do Larry Page and Sergey Brin still control Google?

Yes. Although both stepped back from active management roles in December 2019, Page and Brin retain Class B shares with 10 votes each. Together they hold roughly 51% of total shareholder voting power, meaning they control all significant corporate decisions at Alphabet despite not running day-to-day operations.

What does Alphabet Inc. own besides Google?

Alphabet owns YouTube, Google Cloud, Android, Google Maps, Google Play, Waymo (self-driving cars), Google DeepMind (AI research), Verily (life sciences), Waze, Fitbit, and the Nest smart home division, among many other businesses and investments.