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Google (GOOGL-1.57%) co-founder Sergey Brin gave away almost $700 million, in the form of 4.1 million Alphabet shares, to an undisclosed charity on Wednesday.
It’s pocket change for him, really: Bloomberg reported that Brin and fellow co-founder Larry Page saw their combined fortune increase by $7 billion that same day, as Alphabet stock rose more than 7 percent on the heels of the I/O developer conference this week; Google touted new AI features during the annual event, including an “AI mode” for searches.
Brin’s estimated net worth at the end of 2024 was $161 billion.
The donated shares were split between Class A and Class C stock. The move follows a 2023 donation by Brin that was worth around $600 million; it was also timed with the I/O developer conference, and also to an undisclosed charity. His pet causes, funded through his Catalyst4 nonprofit, include research into Parkinson’s disease and other neurological disorders, as well as several projects related to climate change, including carbon-capture technology and offshore wind farms. Brin donated more than $100 million in shares in 2024.
Brin and Page stepped down from Alphabet management in 2019. Since Google’s IPO in 2004, Brin has sold more than $11 billion worth of the company’s shares, according to Bloomberg.