Alphabet was created in 2015 as the corporate successor to Google’s original structure.
Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin announced Alphabet in August 2015. Alphabet became the publicly traded parent company, while Google became its largest subsidiary and retained businesses such as Search, YouTube, and Android.
The restructuring separated Google’s core internet products from several “other bets,” including research and experimental ventures. Page became Alphabet’s chief executive, and Google executive Sundar Pichai became Google’s CEO. Pichai later became Alphabet’s CEO in 2019.
Alphabet remained closely associated with Google because Google accounts for most of its revenue and public recognition. The change did not rename the search engine: the search service continued to be called Google, while Alphabet served as the parent company’s legal and corporate name.