Alphabet was formed in 2015 through the restructuring of Google’s corporate organization.
Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin announced Alphabet in August 2015. Alphabet became the holding company, while Google became its largest subsidiary and continued operating its search, advertising, Android, YouTube, and cloud businesses.
The structure separated Google’s core internet products from businesses such as life sciences, investment activities, and other “moonshot” projects. Larry Page became Alphabet’s chief executive, and Sundar Pichai became Google’s CEO at the reorganization.
Alphabet’s market capitalization is based on the value of its publicly traded shares. It is not simply the value of Google Search. Advertising remains central, but Alphabet also owns major platforms and businesses including YouTube and Google Cloud. The company’s name is sometimes confused with Google because Google remains the best-known operating company within Alphabet.