Google is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., a publicly traded corporation with a market capitalization of $2.4 trillion. While no single person owns 51% of Google’s shares, co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin hold the majority of the voting power through special Class B shares. Collectively, they command 51% of the voting power.

This structure allows them to maintain focus on innovation and Google’s continued growth. As a search engine, Google is committed to providing fast information and search results to users worldwide. Let’s dive in to discover who owns the rest of Google’s stock.

Key Takeaways

• Alphabet Inc.’s ownership structure, characterized by multiple classes of shares, has become an integral part of the discussion on corporate governance. The Class B shares carry super-voting rights. This structure allows insiders like Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin to avoid accountability for important company decisions. Grasping these dynamics is key to understanding how and why important strategic decisions are made within the company.
• Larry Page and Sergey Brin have significant power as special individual shareholders. Their joint ownership of Class B shares further increases their power. Their dominance over voting rights gives them the power to dictate the company’s actions, policies, and long-term trajectory. This shows just how much a single shareholder—here, by far the biggest—can shape corporate strategy.
• Institutional shareholders own a huge share in Alphabet Inc. which affects corporate governance and could have an impact on the stock price. Their engagement further underscores the importance of understanding the interplay between shareholder and institutional shareholder interests. This deep understanding drives much of the company’s future direction.
• A majority ownership of 51% is key for getting inside and controlling corporate decision-making processes. This degree of ownership not only affects governance, but also influences market perception and stock price valuation. Understanding why this 51% threshold is so important for Alphabet Inc’s power dynamics.
• The unique dynamics of voting power between Class A and Class B shares create a particularly pernicious governance setup. These Class B shares give insiders greater control, undermining decision-making authority and shedding light on the dangers of concentrated shareholder control.
• The impact of the top shareholders goes beyond just voting their shares to determine company policies to strategic direction. This dynamic is crucial for aligning shareholder interests with long-term business goals, ensuring that corporate strategies reflect both individual and collective shareholder priorities.

Who Owns Google?

Google was founded on September 4, 1998, in Menlo Park, California. Its headquarters are now located in Mountain View, California, where it continues to expand its operations.

In 2015, Google underwent a significant restructuring, creating a new parent company called Alphabet Inc. (ticker symbol: GOOGL/GOOG). Under the leadership of former CEO Eric Schmidt, this move essentially made Google a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alphabet, allowing Google to focus primarily on its core internet products and services like Google Search, Android, YouTube, Google Maps, Gmail, Adsense, Google Drive, DoubleClick, and Chrome browser. It also allows Google to focus on emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

Think of Alphabet as a large holding company (or conglomerate) with a diverse portfolio of companies, including Google, Waymo (self-driving cars), Verily (life sciences), and DeepMind (artificial intelligence).  While Google operates independently with its own CEO, Sundar Pichai, it ultimately falls under the ownership and control of Alphabet. This structure provides greater management scale and allows for independent operation of businesses that aren’t closely related, paving the way for innovation across various sectors.

Who Owns Alphabet Inc.?

Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company, employs a distinctive ownership structure characterized by multiple share classes, each with specific voting rights. These classes are designated as Class A, Class B, and Class C.

• Class A (GOOGL): These shares are publicly traded on the Nasdaq stock exchange and carry one vote per share. This is the class of shares most investors purchase.
• Class B (Not publicly traded): These shares are not publicly traded and carry 10 votes per share. They are primarily held by Alphabet’s founders and insiders, giving them greater control over the company.
• Class C (GOOG): These shares are publicly traded on the Nasdaq stock exchange and carry no voting rights, serving solely as an investment instrument.

This tiered system allows broad financial participation in the company, while actual decision-making power remains with Class B shareholders. Alphabet’s ownership framework is crucial as it directly impacts corporate governance and decision-making processes, playing a key role in the company’s control dynamics.

The concentration of voting power within Class B shares ensures a stable governance model, facilitating streamlined and decisive actions. This setup enables the company to pursue long-term strategic objectives without undue external interference.

Alphabet Inc.’s Shareholder Percentages

Major Institutional Shareholders

Prominent institutional investors, including the Vanguard Group and Blackrock, hold significant stakes in Alphabet Inc.

These institutional investors wield significant capital and are often at the forefront of corporate governance discussions, advocating for greater transparency and accountability. Their involvement can materially impact stock performance and company strategy, as they push for practices that enhance shareholder value. It often revolves around assembling a proficient board of directors who can steer the company toward sustainable equity growth within the industry. The development of such a board is crucial in aligning strategic goals with shareholder interests.

Key Individual Shareholders

Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google’s co-founders, met as PhD students at Stanford University, where they conceived the idea for Google. They stand out as the primary individual shareholders. Their substantial holdings of Class B shares afford them extraordinary control over the company’s direction. Collectively, Larry Page and Sergey Brin command 51% of the voting power, enabling them to influence a number of key corporate decisions and policies.

Implications of Alphabet’s Unique Power Structure

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.

Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Alphabet’s co-founders, own the majority of these super-voting shares, giving them an effective 51% control over the company. This unusual arrangement has profound implications for how Alphabet is run, influencing everything from its long-term strategy and investments to its approach to social responsibility.

The Benefits of Concentrated Control

This concentration of power offers several potential advantages. It allows Alphabet to:

• Think Long-Term: Freed from the pressure of quarterly earnings reports and activist investors, Page and Brin can prioritize long-term projects and investments, even if they don’t offer immediate returns. This has allowed Alphabet to pursue ambitious moonshots like self-driving cars (Waymo) and life extension research (Calico).
• Act Decisively: With the ability to swiftly enact their vision, Page and Brin can steer Alphabet through rapidly changing technological landscapes and seize opportunities that might otherwise be missed. This agility has been crucial to Alphabet’s success in emerging fields like artificial intelligence and cloud computing.
• Maintain a Cohesive Vision: By centralizing decision-making, Alphabet avoids the internal conflicts and power struggles that can plague companies with more diffuse ownership structures. This allows for a unified strategic direction and a strong corporate culture.

The Drawbacks of Limited Shareholder Influence

However, this concentration of power also raises concerns:

• Reduced Accountability: With limited influence from other shareholders, Page and Brin face less scrutiny for their decisions. This raises the risk of potential conflicts of interest and a lack of responsiveness to broader stakeholder concerns.
• Stifled Diversity of Thought: While a unified vision can be beneficial, it can also lead to an echo chamber where dissenting opinions are marginalized. This could potentially limit Alphabet’s ability to adapt to unforeseen challenges or embrace new ideas.
• Disenfranchisement of Minority Shareholders: While institutional investors like Vanguard and BlackRock hold significant economic stakes in Alphabet, their voting power is diluted. This can create a sense of disenfranchisement and reduce their incentives to actively engage in corporate governance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who owns 51% of Google?

No single person or organization holds a controlling stake in Google. Ownership is spread across a wide range of shareholders, from its founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin to numerous individual and institutional investors.

How is Google’s ownership structured?

Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., has a multi-class share structure. It issues Class A, Class B, and Class C shares.  

Class A shares have one vote per share and are the shares available to the public on the stock market (GOOGL). Class B shares have ten votes per share and are primarily held by founders and insiders, giving them greater control. Class C shares have no voting rights and are also publicly traded (GOOG).

Why is Google’s ownership structure significant?

This multi-class structure, specifically the existence of Class B shares, allows key founders and executives to maintain significant control over major company decisions even with a smaller percentage of overall shares. This control allows the company to pursue long-term strategies without being overly influenced by short-term market pressures.

What is the impact of Google’s shareholder control?

The concentration of voting power in Class B shares has significant implications for decision-making and corporate governance. Founders and large shareholders can effectively control strategic directions, mergers, and acquisitions, ensuring alignment with their vision for Google’s future.

How does Google’s ownership affect operations?

This ownership structure allows for potentially faster decision-making and innovation. Founders and key shareholders with Class B shares can swiftly implement transformational changes, helping to maintain Google’s competitive advantage in the technology sector.

Are there any challenges with Google’s ownership structure?

Yes, the existence of non-voting Class C shares can limit the influence of ordinary shareholders. This structure can raise concerns about accountability and transparency in decision-making, potentially affecting investor confidence. Some argue it disenfranchises the average investor who holds Class C shares.

Can Google’s ownership change over time?

Of course, ownership changes instantly as shares are traded. Major shifts typically occur through stock market transactions or internal decisions like issuing new shares or altering share classes.