Alphabet Inc. is an American multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. It was created in 2015 through a corporate reorganization of Google, which became a wholly owned subsidiary of the new parent company. Alphabet's consolidated operations are reported through Google Services, Google Cloud and Other Bets, alongside certain company-wide activities.[1]
Alphabet's Class A common stock trades on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol GOOGL, while its Class C common stock trades under GOOG.[1] In 2025, the company reported revenue of US$402.836 billion and net income of US$132.170 billion.[1] As of 30 June 2026, Alphabet reported 198,933 employees.[2]
History
Formation
Alphabet was incorporated in Delaware on 23 July 2015.[3] On 10 August 2015, Google co-founder Larry Page announced a planned reorganization under which Alphabet would become a holding company and Google would become its largest subsidiary. Page said the structure was intended to give businesses outside Google's core internet operations greater independence and management focus.[4]
The reorganization became effective on 2 October 2015. Each outstanding share of Google Class A, B or C stock was converted into an equivalent share of Alphabet stock of the same class, and Alphabet became the successor issuer for purposes of U.S. securities reporting. Google continued as a direct, wholly owned subsidiary of Alphabet. Trading in Alphabet's Class A and Class C shares continued under Google's existing GOOGL and GOOG symbols.[5]
The name "Alphabet" was chosen to reflect the idea of a collection of different businesses under one parent rather than a consumer-facing brand. Page also linked the name to language and to the investment term "alpha".[4]
Leadership transition and AI organization
At the creation of Alphabet, Page became its chief executive officer and Sergey Brin became president, while Sundar Pichai became chief executive officer of Google.[4] On 3 December 2019, Page and Brin announced that they were leaving their executive roles at Alphabet. Pichai became chief executive officer of both Alphabet and Google. Page and Brin said they would remain co-founders, shareholders and members of Alphabet's board.[6]
In April 2023, Alphabet combined the DeepMind research organization with the Brain team from Google Research to create Google DeepMind, led by Demis Hassabis. The reorganization brought major artificial-intelligence research groups within the company into a single organization.[7]
Operations
Alphabet reports three principal operating segments: Google Services, Google Cloud and Other Bets. It also reports certain shared corporate costs and research activities at the Alphabet level rather than within a segment.[1]
Google Services
Google Services contains consumer products and platforms including Android, Google Chrome, Gmail, Google Drive, Gemini, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Google Search and YouTube, as well as hardware devices. Revenue in the segment is generated primarily from advertising, consumer subscriptions, sales of applications and in-app purchases, and devices.[1]
Advertising is Alphabet's largest source of consolidated revenue. The company sells advertising through properties including Google Search and YouTube and through services that place advertising on third-party websites and applications.[1] Google Services generated US$342.721 billion in revenue and US$139.404 billion in operating income in 2025.[1]
Google Cloud
Google Cloud includes Google Cloud Platform and Google Workspace. Its offerings span computing infrastructure, data and analytics, cybersecurity, artificial-intelligence infrastructure and platforms, and productivity and collaboration software. Alphabet's 2025 annual report identified Vertex AI and Gemini Enterprise among the segment's AI-related offerings.[1]
Google Cloud generated US$58.705 billion in revenue and US$13.910 billion in operating income in 2025.[1] In the second quarter of 2026, the segment reported US$24.768 billion in revenue, compared with US$13.624 billion in the same quarter of 2025.[2]
Other Bets and Alphabet-level activities
Other Bets consists of businesses that Alphabet manages separately from Google. Alphabet has identified companies including Calico, CapitalG, GFiber, GV, Verily, Waymo, Wing and X as part of this portfolio.[8] According to Alphabet, revenue in Other Bets has included autonomous transportation, healthcare-related activities and internet services.[8]
Other Bets generated US$1.537 billion in revenue in 2025 and recorded an operating loss of US$7.515 billion.[1] Alphabet-level activities recorded an operating loss of US$16.760 billion in 2025; the company said these activities primarily included shared artificial-intelligence research and development as well as certain corporate costs.[1]
In March 2026, Alphabet entered into an agreement to contribute its wholly owned GFiber business to a newly formed entity. Under the agreement, Alphabet expected to receive US$1.5 billion in cash, a US$2.0 billion note and a 49.99% equity interest in the new entity. The transaction was expected to close in late 2026. As of 30 June 2026, GFiber's operating results remained within Other Bets.[2]
Selected acquisitions
Alphabet and its subsidiaries have made acquisitions across consumer devices, cybersecurity and infrastructure. Selected large transactions include:
| Year | Business | Reported purchase price | Business area |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Fitbit | US$2.1 billion | Consumer devices and health technology[9] |
| 2022 | Mandiant | Approximately US$6.1 billion | Cloud cybersecurity[10] |
| 2026 | Wiz | US$29.5 billion after purchase-price adjustments | Cloud cybersecurity[2] |
| 2026 | Intersect | US$5.9 billion after purchase-price adjustments | Renewable energy and data-center infrastructure[2] |
Alphabet completed the Wiz acquisition on 11 March 2026 for US$29.5 billion after purchase-price adjustments and excluding post-combination compensation arrangements. The company described the acquisition as an investment by Google Cloud in multicloud and AI-driven security, and Wiz's financial results became part of the Google Cloud segment.[2]
A day earlier, on 10 March 2026, Alphabet completed its US$5.9 billion acquisition of Intersect, a renewable-energy developer. Alphabet said the transaction was intended to accelerate data-center capacity and energy development. Intersect's results were subsequently allocated across Alphabet's reporting segments.[2]
Corporate governance
As reported in Alphabet's 2026 proxy statement, John L. Hennessy served as chair of the board, Sundar Pichai as chief executive officer, Anat Ashkenazi as chief financial officer, and Ruth Porat as president and chief investment officer.[11] Pichai has led Google since October 2015 and has served as Alphabet's chief executive officer since December 2019.[11]
Alphabet has three classes of common stock. Class A shares carry one vote per share, Class B shares carry ten votes per share, and Class C shares generally have no voting rights except where required by law. Class B shares are not publicly traded.[1]
The voting structure gives founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin substantial control over shareholder voting. As of 6 April 2026, Alphabet's proxy statement reported Page with 27.4% of total voting power and Brin with 25.3%, representing approximately 52.7% of total voting power when combined.[11]
Financial performance
Alphabet's consolidated revenue and profit increased from 2023 through 2025. The following figures were reported in the company's 2025 annual report:[1]
| Year | Revenue | Operating income | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | US$307.394 billion | US$84.293 billion | US$73.795 billion |
| 2024 | US$350.018 billion | US$112.390 billion | US$100.118 billion |
| 2025 | US$402.836 billion | US$129.039 billion | US$132.170 billion |
At 31 December 2025, Alphabet reported total assets of US$595.281 billion and total stockholders' equity of US$415.265 billion.[1]
For the second quarter of 2026, Alphabet reported consolidated revenue of US$119.796 billion, compared with US$96.428 billion in the corresponding 2025 quarter. Google Services generated US$94.540 billion, Google Cloud US$24.768 billion and Other Bets US$382 million in revenue during the quarter; the consolidated figure also reflected hedging effects.[2]
Workforce and headquarters
Alphabet's principal executive offices are at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway in Mountain View, California.[1] The company reported 190,820 employees at the end of 2025 and 198,933 employees as of 30 June 2026.[1][2] Its workforce includes employees across engineering, research, sales, operations and other functions supporting Google and the wider Alphabet group.[1]
Legal and regulatory matters
Alphabet and Google have been involved in major competition and privacy proceedings in the United States and Europe.
In the U.S. Department of Justice's search-distribution case, a federal court found that Google had unlawfully maintained monopolies in general search services and general search text advertising. In September 2025, the court imposed remedies that included restrictions on certain exclusive distribution arrangements and requirements relating to the sharing of specified search data and syndication services.[12] By 2026, Google was appealing the liability ruling, while the Justice Department and state plaintiffs were also challenging aspects of the remedies.[13]
In a separate U.S. advertising-technology case, a federal court found in 2025 that Google had unlawfully monopolized two publisher-side advertising-technology markets. On 16 September 2026, the court ordered conduct remedies that included measures intended to improve interoperability with competing publisher tools, facilitate publisher data exports and restrict discriminatory bidding practices. The court did not order the divestiture sought by the government.[14] Google said it planned to appeal the liability decision.[15]
In September 2025, the European Commission fined Google €2.95 billion after finding that it had infringed European Union competition rules by favoring its own advertising-technology services in parts of the online advertising supply chain.[16] Alphabet said at the time that Google intended to appeal the decision.[17]
In July 2026, the Court of Justice of the European Union rejected Google's appeal concerning an Android-related antitrust penalty, leaving in place a €4.1 billion fine after an earlier reduction from the European Commission's original 2018 penalty.[18]
On 21 September 2026, Ireland's Data Protection Commission fined Google Ireland €403 million following an inquiry into the processing of location data associated with Web & App Activity, Location History and Location Accuracy between 25 May 2018 and 4 February 2020. The regulator found infringements of the General Data Protection Regulation concerning lawfulness and fairness, accountability, transparency and data retention, and ordered Google to bring the processing into compliance within six months.[19]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 Alphabet Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 4 February 2026. Accessed 25 September 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Alphabet Inc. Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 30 July 2026. Accessed 25 September 2026.
- ↑ Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of Alphabet Inc.. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Effective 2 October 2015; original certificate filed 23 July 2015. Accessed 25 September 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 G is for Google. Google. Larry Page. 10 August 2015. Accessed 25 September 2026.
- ↑ Google Inc. Current Report on Form 8-K. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 2 October 2015. Accessed 25 September 2026.
- ↑ A letter from Larry and Sergey. Google. Larry Page and Sergey Brin. 3 December 2019. Accessed 25 September 2026.
- ↑ Announcing Google DeepMind. Google DeepMind. Demis Hassabis. 20 April 2023. Accessed 25 September 2026.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 FAQs and General Information. Alphabet Investor Relations. Accessed 25 September 2026.
- ↑ Alphabet Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 2 February 2022. Accessed 25 September 2026.
- ↑ Alphabet Inc. Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2022. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 26 October 2022. Accessed 25 September 2026.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Alphabet Inc. 2026 Proxy Statement. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 24 April 2026. Accessed 25 September 2026.
- ↑ Department of Justice Wins Significant Remedies Against Google. U.S. Department of Justice. 2 September 2025; updated 15 April 2026. Accessed 25 September 2026.
- ↑ US, states file appeal in Google search case, court filing shows. Reuters. 3 February 2026. Accessed 25 September 2026.
- ↑ Department of Justice Again Wins Substantial Relief Against Google. U.S. Department of Justice. 16 September 2026. Accessed 25 September 2026.
- ↑ Google should appoint antitrust compliance officer, US judge says in ad tech case. Reuters. 16 September 2026. Accessed 25 September 2026.
- ↑ Commission Decision of 5 September 2025 relating to proceedings under Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Article 54 of the EEA Agreement (Case AT.40670 – Google – Adtech and Data-related practices). European Commission. 5 September 2025. Accessed 25 September 2026.
- ↑ Alphabet Inc. Current Report on Form 8-K. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 5 September 2025. Accessed 25 September 2026.
- ↑ EU top court dismisses Google fight against record 4.1 billion euro antitrust fine. Reuters. 2 July 2026. Accessed 25 September 2026.
- ↑ Data Protection Commission fines Google €403 million following inquiry into Google's processing of location data. Data Protection Commission of Ireland. 21 September 2026. Accessed 25 September 2026.