Google bosses become its parents - 8th December 2019

Google's legendary founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are stepping away from running the company. This transition sees them become 'proud parents' closely watching the company develop and 'offering advice and love'.

Page and Brin, who founded the groundbreaking Google in a garage in California in 1998, have chosen to give up their respective Chief Executive Officer and President roles at parent company Alphabet. Both aged just 46, the two men said they would remain "actively involved as board members, shareholders and co-founders" but that the management roles they had were no longer necessary. The existing CEO of Google, Sundar Pichai, will take on the additional role of Alphabet CEO.

Google's exponential growth in its 21-year life, from start-up to a public company worth over $800 billion, is testament to the innovation and insight of the pair. They understood how to efficiently make chaotic data on the internet searchable, and have moved forwards from that achievement to identify the potential and need for other well-made tech, on and off the computer screen.

The name 'Google', workshopped at Stanford University, started out as 'googol', the name for the mega number (1 plus 100 zeros). It was accidentally spelt Google and Page recognised the spelling had more appeal. This flexibility and adaptability mirror the way Google, and later Alphabet, achieved so much.

The decision to launch Chrome (the brainchild of new CEO Pichai), to acquire and develop Android, and bring YouTube into the Google family have all had a massive impact on the success of the firm. Alongside this, making online advertising a core part of their business, after initially rejecting it, has provided the funding necessary to explore new ideas, such as Android, via its experimental projects lab 'X'.

Google's new leader, Pichai, needs to steer the company through difficult times ahead as it becomes a more established organisation. It faces tough competition from the likes of Amazon and growing concerns over the future role of technology in our lives.