Alphabet is the parent company that owns Google and adopted its current corporate name in 2015.
Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin announced the Alphabet restructuring in August 2015. The change placed Google’s main internet businesses inside a new holding company, while separate ventures could operate as distinct units. Sundar Pichai became Google’s chief executive, and Larry Page became Alphabet’s chief executive.
Google remained Alphabet’s largest and best-known business, covering products such as Search, YouTube, Android, and Google Cloud. Alphabet also provided a corporate structure for businesses and research projects outside Google’s core advertising and internet operations.
Alphabet is sometimes incorrectly described as a new name for Google. It is more accurate to call Alphabet Google’s parent company. The reorganization also preserved Google’s public stock listing through a corporate restructuring rather than a conventional initial public offering.