Google became a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. in 2015. The change took effect on October 2, 2015, when Google completed a holding-company reorganization that placed it under the newly created Alphabet structure.
Alphabet became the parent company for Google and several other businesses, including projects outside Google’s core internet products. Google retained its search engine, advertising operations, YouTube, Android, and other major consumer services, while Alphabet provided a broader corporate umbrella.
The restructuring also changed the public-company arrangement: Google’s stock was converted into corresponding Alphabet stock, while the familiar GOOG and GOOGL ticker symbols continued. Larry Page became Alphabet’s chief executive, Sergey Brin became its president, and Sundar Pichai took over as Google CEO.
A common mix-up is saying that Alphabet bought Google. It did not; Alphabet was created through a legal reorganization, with Google becoming its wholly owned subsidiary.