Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have joined the exclusive ‘centibillionaire’ club after seeing their respective fortunes exceed $100 billion each.
Page, 48, and Brin, 47, crossed the $100 billion mark last week, after each gaining more than $20 billion this year alone as stock in Google parent Alphabet surged in the pandemic, according to Bloomberg.
Just eight men in the world have fortunes valued at more than $100 billion, with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos topping the list at $197 billion.
Others on the list include Elon Musk, Bill Gates, LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault, Mark Zuckerberg, and Warren Buffet.
Larry Page, 48, (left) and Sergey Brin, 47, (right) crossed the $100 billion mark last week, after each gaining more than $20 billion this year
Google co-founders Sergey Brin, left, and Larry Page are seen in 2008. They are now two of just eight ‘centibillionaires’ worth more than $100 billion
Shares of tech companies have surged in the pandemic, boosting the wealth of the tech-heavy centibillionaire club. Alphabet stock has risen more than 80 percent from the early days of the pandemic a year ago.
Page and Brin founded Google in 1998 while they were PhD students at Stanford University. Together they own about 14 percent of the $1.5 trillion company, and control 56 percent of the shareholder votes.
Both remain board members at Alphabet, and ultimately control the board through their voting power, but they have stepped back from the company’s day-to-day operations.
Page and Brin now live largely out of the limelight, with Page in particular pursuing a reclusive life.
Page has not been heard speaking in public since a business leaders event at Trump Tower in 2016. He is known to have vocal chord problems stemming from an old infection.
In the 1990s, Page and Brin created the prototype for Google’s internet search algorithm as a class project while they were graduate students at Stanford University.
They initially tried to sell the software, but found no interested buyers. It was only reluctantly that they founded their own company to try to monetize the algorithm, say those who knew them at the time.
In the 1990s, Page and Brin created the prototype for Google’s internet search algorithm as a class project while they were graduate students at Stanford University
Brin’s $80 million superyacht is known as The Dragonfly, which boasts an open-air cinema and Jacuzzi on the sundeck, which also converts to a dance floor
Page purchased a $45 million yacht dubbed Senses, which comes with a helipad, gym, multi-level sun decks, ten luxurious suites, a crew of 14
According to many accounts, the founders had grown increasingly weary of corporate management over the years, and focused more and more on side projects.
Page was the founding CEO, but in 2001 he and Brin brought in experienced executive Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of software company Novell, to lead Google through its public offering and massive growth.
In 2011, Page resumed the mantle of Google CEO, but nearly immediately became frustrated with day-to-day corporate tasks, and disillusioned with ‘entitled’ engineers, according to the New York Times.
Sundar Pichai took over as CEO of Google in 2015, with Page and Brin taking the reins as CEO and chairman of Alphabet. In 2019 Pichai took over as Alphabet CEO as well, but still serves at the pleasure of Page and Brin through their supervoting power.
Brin owns a lavish $3.3 million property in Alpine, New Jersey
Larry Page’s custom-built eco-friendly compound in Palo Alto
Though both Page and Brin have devoted some of their fortunes to charitable causes, they have not gone without the finer things in life.
Page purchased a $45 million yacht dubbed Senses, which comes with a helipad, gym, multi-level sun decks, ten luxurious suites, a crew of 14 and interior design by famed French designer Philippe Starck.
Brin’s $80 million superyacht is known as The Dragonfly, which boasts an open-air cinema and Jacuzzi on the sundeck, which also converts to a dance floor.
Both also own multiple stunning mansions, including Brin’s $3.3 million property in Alpine, New Jersey and Larry Page’s custom-built eco-friendly compound in Palo Alto.
