Sundar Pichai Reaches Billionaire Status
At 53 years old, Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, has made headlines by officially becoming a billionaire. He’s been leading the tech powerhouse for almost ten years. The latest figures from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimate his net worth at around $1.1 billion.
Boost from Alphabet’s Skyrocketing Value
So, what led to this jump in Pichai’s wealth? It’s all about Alphabet, Google’s parent company, which has increased its market valuation by over $1 trillion, rewarding investors with a staggering 120% return since the start of 2023, as reported by Bloomberg.
A Unique Achievement in the Tech World
For context, Pichai’s new billionaire title is quite unique in an industry where many wealthiest CEOs, like Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, owe their success to being founders. Notably, Sundar joined Google as a new hire in 2004, long after the company launched in 1998.
Pichai’s Background and Journey
After completing his Master’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford in 1995, he added an MBA from the Wharton School of Business in 2002 and worked for McKinsey before joining Google. His first role at the company was in product management and development.
Over the last decade, he climbed the corporate ladder, eventually becoming CEO of Google in August 2015 and took the position at Alphabet in December 2019.
How Much of Alphabet Does He Own?
According to Bloomberg, Pichai holds a 0.02% stake in Alphabet, valued at roughly $440 million, with the rest of his wealth being cash. Over the past decade, he has cashed in on more than $650 million worth of his Alphabet shares.
Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Alphabet’s Impressive Financial Performance
This week, Alphabet released an earnings report that showcased impressive growth numbers. For the second quarter, ending June 30, the company’s net income surged to $28.2 billion, marking nearly a 20% rise from the previous year, significantly exceeding expectations as covered in CNBC.
Additionally, Alphabet reported a revenue of $96.43 billion for that quarter, which is an increase of 14% from the prior year and above analysts’ expectations of $94 billion as mentioned by the New York Times.
A Standout Quarter for Alphabet
According to Pichai, “We had a standout quarter, with robust growth across the company,” as stated in the earnings report. He also mentioned a boost in AI spending for Alphabet, increasing from $75 billion to $85 billion due to rising demand for its cloud services.
This year, Alphabet’s stock has risen by nearly 2%, placing the company among the top five largest companies in the world with a staggering market value of $2.34 trillion.
