In 2015, Google was reorganized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Alphabet Inc.
The company went public via an initial public offering (IPO) in 2004. Together they own about 14% of its publicly listed shares and control 56% of its stockholder voting power through super-voting stock. Google was founded on September 4, 1998, by American computer scientists Larry Page and Sergey Brin while they were PhD students at Stanford University in California. Alongside Amazon, Apple Inc., Meta, and Microsoft, Google's parent company Alphabet Inc. It has been referred to as 'the most powerful company in the world' and as one of the world's most valuable brands due to its market dominance, data collection, and technological advantages in the field of artificial intelligence. Google LLC ( / ˈ ɡ uː ɡ ə l/ ⓘ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on artificial intelligence, online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, and consumer electronics. Then Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt (left) with co-founders Sergey Brin (center) and Larry Page (right) in 2008
