Alphabet Inc. Cl A

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What it is

Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google on 4 September 1998 as Stanford PhD students, and in 2015 Google restructured into the holding company now known as Alphabet Inc. More than 70% of worldwide online search requests are handled by Google, placing advertising at the centre of the business.

Alphabet’s three segments are Google Services (ads, Android, Chrome, Search, YouTube), Google Cloud, and Other Bets. Google Cloud sells AI solutions including its Vertex AI platform and Gemini enterprise products, plus cybersecurity and Google Workspace collaboration tools for enterprises.

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Who owns it

By voting power, Larry Page (27.4%) and Sergey Brin (25.3%) hold majority control through non-tradeable Class B super-voting shares, per Alphabet’s April 2026 SEC proxy filing. Their Class B shares carry 10 votes each compared to one vote for publicly traded Class A shares, meaning the founders veto any resolution they choose — regardless of how many Class A shares institutions hold.

By economic value, Vanguard (~7%) and BlackRock (~6.2%) hold the largest stakes. The founders stepped back from daily executive responsibilities in December 2019 but remain board members and controlling shareholders.

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Who runs it

Sundar Pichai has been Chief Executive since December 2019; John L. Hennessy has been Board Chair since February 2018.

CFO Anat Ashkenazi joined from Eli Lilly, where she was also CFO, taking the role effective July 31, 2024.

CEO Sundar Pichai is the largest individual stockholder outside the two founders. Larry Page and Sergey Brin remain active as board members, shareholders, and co-founders.

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The money, in plain words

Alphabet keeps nearly 38 cents of profit from every dollar of sales — a net profit margin of 37.9%, extraordinary for a company at this scale. Revenue has grown from $307 billion in 2023 to $403 billion in 2025, a rise of 31% in two years (our calculation), while net income nearly doubled from $73.8 billion to $132.2 billion over the same period.

For every dollar of equity owners have put in, Alphabet earns back almost 39 cents a year — a return on equity of 38.9%, well above the technology-sector average. Alphabet was incorporated in 1998 and has built up $30.7 billion in cash on its FY2025 balance sheet against no reported long-term debt in that filing (our calculation from EODHD balance-sheet data).

At 27.9× earnings the market is paying a growth premium, but not an extravagant one for a business compounding this fast.

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What it is doing now

Alphabet announced plans to sell $80 billion in stock — including a $10 billion investment by Berkshire Hathaway — specifically to fund investments in AI compute infrastructure to meet what it called “unprecedented customer demand.” The company revised its capital expenditure forecast for the year to between $180 billion and $190 billion.

In Q1 2026 Search advertising revenue grew 19%, while Cloud revenue grew 63%, exceeding $20 billion for the first time, with the order backlog nearly doubling quarter-on-quarter to over $460 billion. Google also completed its acquisition of Wiz in March 2026, a cybersecurity deal that bolsters the Cloud segment’s enterprise credentials.

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What to watch

• AI talent: Google ended its worst day on the stock market in over a year on 22 June 2026 as AI concerns mounted and two high-profile researchers departed for rivals, with shares closing down about 5%.
• Antitrust: A California judge denied Google and YouTube a new trial after a jury found their platforms addictive for young users; Alphabet plans to appeal while remaining exposed to damages and copycat lawsuits.
• Capital returns: The $80 billion equity raise dilutes existing shareholders; Berkshire Hathaway has been building its position in Alphabet since the third quarter of last year, which may signal institutional confidence, but the scale of spending will test margin resilience.
• Cloud chips: Google disclosed it will begin delivering its custom AI chips (TPUs) to outside customers in the second half of 2026, with broader expansion planned for 2027 — a potential new revenue stream that analysts say is still not priced in.

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This is news, not investment advice.