Alphabet, the parent company of Google, became the fourth U.S. company to reach a $1 trillion market capitalization.
Alphabet crossed the milestone in January 2020, following Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon. The company’s principal business is Google, whose search engine and advertising systems generate most of Alphabet’s revenue. Google Cloud, YouTube, and other businesses also contribute to the group.
Alphabet was created in 2015 as part of a corporate restructuring. Google became a subsidiary, while Alphabet provided a broader holding-company structure for Google and several ambitious projects outside its core internet businesses.
The company’s stock-market symbol is GOOG or GOOGL, depending on the share class. Those classes have different voting rights, but both represent ownership in Alphabet. The $1 trillion valuation refers to the combined market value of its publicly traded shares, not solely to the Google search engine.