Larry Page Biography

Larry Page is an internet entrepreneur and computer scientist who teamed up with grad school buddy Sergey Brin to launch the search engine Google in 1998.

Who Is Larry Page?

Born in Michigan in 1973, Larry Page's parents were both computer experts. Following in their footsteps, he studied computer engineering at Stanford University, where he met Sergey Brin. The duo developed a search engine that listed results according to the popularity of the pages and, with Page as CEO, Google became the world's most popular search engine after launching in 1998. Page and Brin later took charge of Google's new parent company, Alphabet, until stepping down from their everyday roles in late 2019.

Early Life and Education

Lawrence Page was born on March 26, 1973, in East Lansing, Michigan. His father, Carl Page, was a pioneer in computer science and artificial intelligence, and his mother taught computer programming. After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from the University of Michigan, Page decided to concentrate on computer engineering for graduate school at Stanford University, where he met Brin.

Creating Google With Sergey Brin

As a research project at Stanford University, Page and Brin created a search engine that listed results according to the popularity of the pages, after concluding that the most popular result would often be the most useful. They called the search engine "Google" after the mathematical term "googol," which refers to the No. 1 followed by 100 zeros, to reflect their mission to organize the immense amount of information available on the web.

After raising $1 million from family, friends and other investors, the pair launched the company in 1998. Google has since become the world's most popular search engine, receiving an average of 5.9 billion searches per day in 2013. Headquartered in the heart of California's Silicon Valley, Google held its initial public offering in August 2004, making Page and Brin billionaires.

Evolving Conglomerate

In 2006, Google purchased the most popular website for user-submitted streaming videos, YouTube, for $1.65 billion in stock.

In September 2013, Page was ranked No. 13 on the Forbes 400 list of the richest people in America. That October, he was ranked No. 17 on Forbes' 2013 "Most Powerful People" list. As Google's CEO, Page shared responsibility for the company's operations with Brin, who served as director of special projects for Google, and Eric Schmidt, the company's executive chairman.

In 2015, Page and Brin announced the creation of a new parent company called Alphabet to oversee Google and other subsidiaries. Page and Brin became Alphabet's CEO and president, respectively, with Sundar Pichai stepping in as Google's top executive.

Diminishing Presence and Company Exit

The restructuring gave Page and Brin the opportunity to step away from day-to-day operations of the company they founded, and the CEO was noticeably absent from Alphabet's meetings and quarterly earnings calls. In 2018, Page declined to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee as part of hearings into the use of Big Tech to meddle in foreign elections, and he came under scrutiny for giving a $90 million exit package to a former senior executive accused of sexual misconduct.

On December 3, 2019, Page and Brin announced that they were stepping down from their roles as CEO and president of Alphabet, handing the reins to Pichai. However, the duo were expected to retain their influence over the company's direction as Alphabet's largest individual shareholders. 

Autonomous Air Taxi

In March 2018, it was announced that a company personally funded by Page, called Kitty Hawk, had reached an agreement with officials in New Zealand to begin the certification process on a fully electric, self-piloting flying taxi.

Kitty Hawk had been testing its aircraft, nicknamed Cora, over New Zealand since the previous October. With Boeing, Airbus and Uber among the companies looking to break ground in the burgeoning air taxi industry, Kitty Hawk is aiming to have a commercial network of vehicles up and running by 2021.