Google or should we now say, Alphabet, dropped a bomb on us by announcing that the search giant is now under a parent company called Alphabet. The parent company will have Google co-founder Larry Page as its CEO and Sergey Brin as its president. Alphabet, which has its own site already, will be consisting of a number of companies with Google being the largest. It’ll replace Google Inc. as the publicly-traded entity and all the shares of Google will automatically convert to the number of shares of Alphabet. And Google as the company will now have Sundar Pichai as its CEO.
But why Alphabet? According to Page, “We liked the name Alphabet because it means a collection of letters that represent language, one of humanity's most important innovations, and is the core of how we index with Google search! We also like that it means alpha-bet (Alpha is investment return above benchmark), which we strive for! I should add that we are not intending for this to be a big consumer brand with related products--the whole point is that Alphabet companies should have independence and develop their own brands.”
Honestly, it won’t affect you much, unless you’re a wary investor in Google who think they’re losing focus on its key business (which is honestly advertising instead of search). The move is seen as a way to rein in the many businesses that Google seems to be dipping into and appease concerned investors. Having a parent company will help tie the businesses together while giving them more independence to work on their key businesses.
Now, if you’re a fan of HBO’s Silicon Valley, you might want to check out the Easter egg Google, er we mean Alphabet, hid in the announcement on their site. Click on the period after the phrase “drone delivery effort” to see what we’re talking about.
Source: Google | Via: Gizmodo + Gawker + Android Central