Sundar Pichai might be worth more than 500 million dollars. Indeed, the CEO of Google, Sundar Pichai, received a base salary of 2 million dollars in 2022. In addition, between 2019 and 2022 alone, he received a total compensation (comprising base salary, stock awards, and other bonuses) of $294 million, making him worth more than 300 million dollars at current market value. Over the years, Pichai has sold part of his stocks, making his net worth pass 500 million dollars.
Category
Details
Full Name
Pichai Sundararajan (Sundar Pichai)
Date of Birth
June 10, 1972
Place of Birth
Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
Nationality
Indian-American
Education
Bachelor of Technology in Metallurgical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur, Master of Science in Material Sciences and Engineering from Stanford University, Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Early Career
Worked in engineering and product management at Applied Materials and in management consulting at McKinsey & Company
Major Companies
Google, Alphabet Inc.
Positions
CEO of Google, CEO of Alphabet Inc.
Net Worth
Estimated around $600 million (as of 2023)
Business Milestones
– 2004: Joined Google as Vice President of Product Management, initially working on the Google Toolbar and then Google Chrome, which became the world’s most popular web browser. – 2008: Led the launch of Google Chrome, which quickly gained a significant market share in the browser market. – 2012: Became Senior Vice President, overseeing Chrome, Apps, and Android, which consolidated his influence over Google’s most critical products. – 2014: Named Head of Product, overseeing all of Google’s products and platforms, including Search, Maps, Google+, Commerce, Ads, and Infrastructure. – 2015: Appointed CEO of Google, leading all of the company’s core businesses, including Android, Search, YouTube, Apps, and Ads. – 2015: Played a key role in the creation of Alphabet Inc., with Google becoming its largest subsidiary and Pichai continuing as CEO of Google. – 2019: Became CEO of Alphabet Inc., succeeding Larry Page and assuming responsibility for Alphabet’s “Other Bets” alongside Google’s core businesses. – 2020: Led Google and Alphabet through the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring business continuity and adapting to new challenges in digital transformation and remote work. – 2021: Oversaw significant advancements in AI, cloud computing, and quantum computing, maintaining Google and Alphabet’s positions as leaders in technology innovation. – 2022: Continued to focus on AI, sustainability, and expanding global internet access through initiatives like Project Loon and various philanthropic efforts under Google.org.
Sundar Pichai, born Pichai Sundararajan, is an Indian-American businessman and current CEO of Alphabet and its subsidiary Google.
Pichai showed a keen interest in technology as a child and was fascinated by electronics and gadgets.
He went on to earn his undergraduate degree in metallurgical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur.
Let’s chart Pichai’s history from that moment onward.
Education and early career
Pichai moved to the USA after receiving his undergraduate degree and then earned a master’s in material science and engineering from Stanford University. Not satisfied, he then enrolled at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and earned an MBA.
Post-MBA, Pichai started his professional career at Applied Materials – an American supplier of equipment, services, and software for electronics semiconductors. He also worked briefly as a management consultant for McKinsey & Company.
Pichai joins Google
Pichai joined Google in 2004 as a product manager where he was a key part of the management and innovation of various software products.
He soon attracted the attention of Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and earned a reputation for his sharp intellect and excellent leadership skills.
Pichai initially worked on products such as ChromeOS, Google Chrome, and Google Drive, but later oversaw the development of other applications such as Gmail and Google Maps.
Pichai’s idea to build Chrome in particular is worthy of further mention. Now one of its greatest successes, the development of Chrome overcame substantial resistance from CEO Eric Schmidt who did not want Google to enter the browser wars.
Pichai becomes Google CEO
In August 2015, Google announced a restructuring that caught many by surprise. Pichai would become CEO of a somewhat smaller, search-focused version of Google while Page would become CEO of Google’s new parent company Alphabet.
Announcing the move in a blog post, Page noted that Pichai was a natural choice to lead Google and had “really stepped up since October of last year, when he took on product and engineering responsibility for our internet businesses. Sergey and I have been super excited about his progress and dedication to the company.”
Pichai becomes Alphabet CEO
On December 3, 2019, Pichai became the CEO of Alphabet after Page and Brin stepped down from their roles.
The co-founders explained that with Alphabet well-established and Google and other bets functioning well as independent companies, it was time to simplify the management structure.
With no need for two CEOs and a President, Sundar would become the CEO of both Alphabet and Google.
Brin and Page would remain actively involved as Board members and shareholders, but they were enthusiastic about Sundar in the role who would bring “humility and a deep passion for technology to our users, partners and our employees every day.”
Pichai has only been in the role for a short time, but he has continued to invest in Google Cloud and is a fervent supporter of machine learning and artificial intelligence.
While other companies bet on the Metaverse as the next frontier, Pichai believes that Google’s future will remain in search as consumers ask questions of computers via voice and multimodal experiences.
To that end, he is also passionate about the future of immersive computing as a natural evolution of the internet.
Key takeaways
Sundar Pichai, born Pichai Sundararajan, is an Indian-American businessman and current CEO of Alphabet and its subsidiary Google.
Post-MBA, Pichai started his professional career at Applied Materials – an American supplier of equipment, services, and software for electronics semiconductors. He also worked briefly as a management consultant for McKinsey & Company.
Pichai joined Google in 2004 as a product manager where he was a key part of the management and innovation of various software products. He soon earned a reputation for his sharp intellect and excellent leadership skills and started to climb the ladder.
Key Highlights
Sundar Pichai: CEO of Alphabet and Google, an Indian-American businessman with a net worth exceeding $500 million.
Education and Early Career: Pichai earned his undergraduate degree in metallurgical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, followed by a master’s in material science and engineering from Stanford University, and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Joining Google: Pichai joined Google in 2004 as a product manager and played a crucial role in the development of software products like ChromeOS, Google Chrome, and Google Drive.
Pichai Becomes Google CEO: In August 2015, Pichai was appointed CEO of Google in a restructuring, with Larry Page becoming CEO of Alphabet.
Pichai Becomes Alphabet CEO: On December 3, 2019, Pichai became the CEO of both Alphabet and Google after Page and Brin stepped down from their roles.
Investment in Google Cloud and AI: Pichai continued to invest in Google Cloud and is a strong advocate for machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Focus on Search and Immersive Computing: Pichai believes that Google’s future lies in search and the natural evolution of the internet through immersive computing.
Google is an attention merchant that – in 2022 – generated over $224 billion (almost 80% of revenues) from ads (Google Search, YouTube Ads, and Network sites), followed by Google Play, Pixel phones, YouTube Premium (a $29 billion segment), and Google Cloud ($26.2 billion).
Google is primarily owned by its founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who have more than 51% voting power. Other individual shareholders comprise John Doerr (1.5%), a venture capitalist and early investor in Google, and CEO, Sundar Pichai. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has 4.2% voting power. The most prominent institutional shareholders are mutual funds BlackRock and The Vanguard Group, with 2.7% and 3.1%, respectively.
Of Google’s (Alphabet) over $282 billion revenue for 2022, Google also generated over a billion dollars from a group of startup bets, which Google considers potential moonshots (companies that might open up new industries). Those Google’s bets also generated a loss for the company of over $6 billion in the same year. In short, Google is using the money generated by search and betting it on other innovative industries. Of Google’s (Alphabet) over $282 billion revenue for 2022, Google also generated over a billion dollars from a group of startup bets, which Google considers potential moonshots (companies that might open up new industries). Those Google’s bets also generated a loss for the company of over $6 billion in the same year. In short, Google is using the money generated by search and betting it on other innovative industries.
Google is an attention merchant that – in 2022 – generated $224 billion (almost 80% of its total revenues) from ads (Google Search, YouTube Ads, and Network sites), followed by Google Play, Pixel phones, YouTube Premium (a $29 billion segment), and Google Cloud ($26.3 billion).
The traffic acquisition cost represents the expenses incurred by an internet company, like Google, to gain qualified traffic – on its pages – for monetization. Over the years, Google has been able to reduce its traffic acquisition costs and, in any case, to keep it stable. In 2022 Google spent 21.75% of its total advertising revenues (over $48 billion) to guarantee its traffic on several desktop and mobile devices across the web.
Alphabet generated over $282B from Google search and others, $32.78 billion from the Network members (Adsense and AdMob), $29.2 billion from YouTube Ads, $26.28B from the Cloud, and $29 billion from other sources (Google Play, Hardware devices, and other services).
YouTube was acquired for almost $1.7 billion in 2006 by Google. It makes money through advertising and subscription revenues. YouTube advertising network is part of Google Ads, and it reported more than $29B in revenues by 2022. YouTube also makes money with its paid memberships and premium content.
In 2022, Google generated over $282 billion in revenues, of which over $162 billion from Google Search, over $29 billion from YouTube Ads, and almost $33 billion from Network Members’ properties. In addition, Google generated over $29 billion in other revenue, over $26 billion from Google Cloud, and over a billion dollars from other bets.
By 2022, most of Tesla’s shares are still owned by Elon Musk, among the company’s co-founders and the CEO. Elon Musk is the top individual investor, with a 23.5% stake in the company. At current rates, this is valued at around $145-50 billion, making Elon Musk one of the wealthiest men on earth. In addition, Musk also holds a significant stake in Twitter and SpaceX, which makes him worth anywhere between $180-90 billion.
Bernard Arnault’s wealth is around $203 billion. Indeed Arnault is the CEO and chairman of the luxury goods conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, a massive luxury group that generated over €79 billion in revenue ($83 billion) in 2022, spanning across wines, fashion, cosmetics, and retail. The Arnault family group owns 48.18% of the capital for LVMH with 63.9% voting power, making Bernard Arnault the principal owner and decision-maker. His stake is worth over $203 billion.
Warren Buffett is an American investor, business tycoon, and philanthropist. Known as the “Oracle of Omaha,” Buffett is best known for his strict adherence to value investing and frugality despite his immense wealth. Warren Buffet owns an investment firm, Berkshire Hathaway. He owns 238,624 Class A shares which gives him control over the company. His stake in the company is valued at over $100 billion.
Jeff Bezos’ net worth is primarily based on his ownership stake in Amazon. Indeed, as of 2023, Bezos owned a 12.7% stake in Amazon, worth over $120 billion.
Tim Cook’s net worth is primarily comprised of his Apple stocks. As of 2023, he owned 3,279,898 worth about $480 million at the current rate. However, Tim Cook has sold part of his Apple stocks over the years for hundreds of millions of dollars, making him a billionaire.
Bill Gates was the co-founder and former CEO of Microsoft until 2000, and he was on the board of Microsoft until 2020. However, over the years, Gates sold various stakes in Microsoft and diversified away from it. As of 2019, Gates had a 1.34% stake in Microsoft, which he might still own, valued at about $25 billion.
As of 2022, Satya Nadella had 763,518, valued at $190 million at Microsoft’s current market value. Nadella also got a $2.5 million base salary in 2022, plus $42.27 million in stock awards and over $10 million in non-stock incentives. Nadella sold hundreds of millions of dollars of Microsoft stocks in the last ten years, making him a centi-millionaire. In 2022, 96% of Nadella’s salary was performance-based, whereas only 4% comprised a base salary.
Larry Page co-founded Google (now Alphabet) and Sergey Brin. He controls the company tightly via a dual share ownership structure (made of Class A and B stocks). Alphabet is worth over a trillion dollars, valuing Larry Page’s stake in the company at around $70 billion.
Sergey Brin co-founded Google (now Alphabet) together with Larry Page. He controls the company tightly via a dual share ownership structure (made of Class A and B stocks). Alphabet is worth over a trillion dollars, valuing Sergey Brin’s stake at around $66 billion.
Mark Zuckerberg is the co-founder and principal shareholder of Facebook (now Meta), in which he owns a controlling stake worth over $68 billion. Thus Mark Zucberkerbs’ net worth is around $68 billion in 2023.
Eduardo Luiz Saverin is a billionaire entrepreneur and angel investor. He co-founded Facebook with Mark Zuckerberg; he was later ousted. Yet later on, Facebook settled a lawsuit with Saverin giving him a good chunk of the company’s stock, now worth over ten billion dollars. Thus, Eduardo Saverin’s net worth is around $10.45 billion in 2023.
While Larry Ellison is a shareholder in various tech companies (such as Tesla), his primary wealth comes from his ownership stake in the company he founded, Oracle. He owns almost 43% of the company’s stock, valued at over $100 billion, making him among the wealthiest people on earth.
Howard Schultz’s net worth is over $2.2 billion. Indeed, he is the founder of Starbucks and a major institutional shareholder, with 1.88% ownership of the company, valued at over $2.2 billion at the current market value, making him a billionaire.
Daniel Ek is one of the founders and one of the principal shareholders of Spotify. Indeed, in 2023 with 16.5% of Spotify’s shares, he’s worth around $3.7 billion.
The Pinault family is the main shareholder behind the Kering Group luxury empire, with a stake of 41.7%, valued around €30 billion, thus $32-33 billion. The Kering Group owns iconic brands like Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta.
Pierre Omidyar is a technology entrepreneur andPierre Omidyar is a technology entrepreneur and founder of eBay. As of 2020, before he stepped down from the company’s board of directors, he still owned 4.69% of the company’s stocks, valued at over one billion dollars. Yet, over the years, he sold a good chunk of his stocks, making him a billionaire. founder of eBay. As of 2020, before he stepped down from the company’s board of directors, he still owned 4.69% of the company’s stocks, valued at over one billion dollars. Yet, over the years, he sold a good chunk of his stocks, making him a billionaire.
Marc Benioff’s net worth is $5 billion. His net worth primarily comes from his stake in Salesforce. Indeed, he owns 3% of the company’s stock, valued at around $5 billion at current market value, making Marc Benioff a billionaire.
Reed Hastings is the co-founder, former CEO, and now executive chairman of Netflix. He’s also one of the major shareholders, with 1.7% ownership in the company, valued at $2.4 billion at the current rate.
Evan Thomas Spiegel is the co-founder and CEO of Snapchat. He’s also the main shareholder. Indeed, he both owns and controls Snapchat, and his stake in the company is currently valued at around $3 billion.
Brian Chesky is an industrial designer and businessman who is also Airbnb’s co-founder and current CEO. Since the company was founded in 2007, Chesky has been in charge of it, amassing a net worth of about $10 billion, thanks to his shares in the company.
Phil Knight, the founder of Nike, controls the company via a personal stake of shares for 7% ownership, plus the shares held via the family’s owned Swoosh, LLC, in addition to the shares in possession of his son’s Trust. Phil Knight directly controls a significant stake in Nike’s Class A and B shares, valued at over $40 billion.
Michale Jordan is a billionaire but doesn’t own the Jordan brand, which is part of Nike. Yet, he gets 5% royalties on the sales of Jordan. For instance, as of May 31, 2022, Nike had endorsement contract obligations of $7.6 billion, of which over $250 million were to be paid out to Michael Jordan as royalties on the sales of Jordan in 2022 (the company made over 5$ billion in sales in that year). We estimated that between 2018-2022 alone, Nike paid (or is paying) Michael Jordan almost one billion dollars in royalties for Jordan’s brand sales.
Kevin Plank is Under Armour’s primary owner and founder, of which he’s also chairman. His stake in the company is worth over a billion dollars at current market value, making him a billionaire.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
