Larry Page: The Driving Force behind Google’s Popularity
Google has changed the way people look for information. It is an eye through which we can see the universe of information andkeep abreast of of all the happenings in the world. Without it today, finding the needed information becomes a herculean task. Every moment we thank Google, for coming into our lives and becoming a major part of our day-to-day routine. The two people who are responsible for the existence of Google and deserve the much needed accolades are Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
Larry Page is today recognized for being a well-known internet entrepreneur, computer scientist and co-founder of Google. He is presently the chief executive officer of Google and has always been the main driving force behind Google’s success. He is a man with wild ambitions and imaginations and Google as a massive global business stands testimony to the fact.
Early Life and Education
Originally named Lawrence Page, Larry Page as he is currently known to the world was born on March 26, 1973, in East Lansing, Michigan. Both his parents are from the computer science background. While his father Dr. Carl Victor Page, was a computer science professor at the Michigan State University, his mother Gloria worked as a computer programming instructor at Lyman Briggs College, Michigan State University. Though Page’s mother was a Jewish but her son was not bounded by any religious beliefs.
A flashback into his childhood, Page recalls how as a child he was surrounded by computers, magazines on science and technology and Popular Science magazines. The ambience in which he grew fostered his imaginative power and helped him imbibe knowledge of the computing world. He used to play the saxophone and even undertook music training.
He studied in Okemos, Michigan at the Okemos Montessori School, now known by the name Montessori Radmoor. He studied there from the year 1975 to 1979. He completed his graduation from East Lansing High School in the year 1991. He is a recipient of a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in computer engineering from the University of Michigan. He went on to complete his Master of Science in computer science from the Stanford University.
During his University days, Page came up with an idea to create an inkjet printer with Lego bricks with the aim to print large posters affordably using inkjet cartridges. He served as the member of the 1993 “Maize and Blue” University of Michigan Solar Car team. He then enrolled himself in a PhD program at the Stanford University. While contemplating on a dissertation theme, he came up with the idea to explore the mathematical properties of the World Wide Web. He also wanted to do a research on telepresence and autonomous cars. It was during this phase of his life that Sergey Brin entered and joined hands with him to develop a bond unmatched. Together they penned down a research work titled “the Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine” The paper went on to become the most downloaded documents in its time.
Google Happens
When Brin and Page created the PageRank algorithm, they realized that it could be utilized to build a search engine that would leave the existing ones behind. Page collaborated with Brin to collaborate their ideas and developed a search engine that features results/pages according to their popularity. They came to the conclusion after much research that only the most popular page will come in most handy. Page’s dormitory room was transformed into a laboratory full of machines. Soon later Brin’s room was transformed into a programming center and office. It is here that they tested their new design on search engine.
Their search engine was named Google, which was derived from the mathematical term “googol”. “Googol” stands for 1 followed by 100 zeros which stands as a reflection of their massive mission. Initially the basic HTML programming skills were used to create a simple search page for users due to the absence of a web page developer. Soon their search engine gained popularity among the users of Stanford and demanded the use of additional severs to run.
They eventually decided to start a company on their project. With this view, Google Inc. was launched in 1998. Larry Page and Sergey Brin became its CEO and President, respectively. They relocated their servers to a friend’s garage in Menlo Park, California. They completed their Master’s degree and decided to take a break from their PhD program in order to focus on their budding business. Their mission in their own words was “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”They rented a complex of buildings in Mountain View, California in the year 1999. Soon the entire property was in their control and they went on to build Googleplex, world’s most extensive and unique workplace.
By the year 2001, Google grew to great heights of popularity, making huge profits. A social networking site by the name of Orkut was introduced in the year 2004. The first public offering drew $1.62 billion which made a market capitalization of $23 billion. In the year 2005, new features like Google Maps, iGoogle, Blogger Mobile, Google Reader etc. were introduced. The year 2006, saw Google acquiring YouTube and saw the addition of the chat feature in Gmail.
A partnership with China Mobile and Salesforce.com ensued in 2007. A partnership for Google Apps for Education was also signed to enable the free access of education to thousands of students in Kenya and Rwanda. Google Sites, Google Earth and Google Health were launched in 2008. A year later surfaced the Picasa for Mac, which was followed by the launch of Google Latitude and Google Ventures. Aardvark and Picnik were bought in 2010. Soon later the Google Apps Marketplace was established.
In the year 2011, Larry Page became the CEO of Google. Brin turned director of special projects for Google. Google.org was launched in 2004 with the view to bring forth technological solutions to attend to such global challenges like poverty and hunger.
Personal Life:
Page married Lucinda Southworth in the year 2007 on Necker Island, a Caribbean Island that is owned by Richard Branson. The sister of actress and model Carrie Southworth, Lucinda Southworth is a research scientist. The couple has two children born on 2009 and 2011 respectively.
Larry Page is the owner of a historic property, the deed of which was bought for about $7 million. The property is spread over 10, 000 sq. feet. Another house was built on the same piece of property and is spread over 6, 000 sq. feet in size. The new house is quintessentially a green building, environment- friendly with a roof garden and solar panels.
In the year 2011, Page bought a high-end expedition yacht “Senses,” which cost him over US $45 million. The original owner of the yacht was a renowned Kiwi Businessman Sir Douglas Meyers. The co-founders of Google, Page and Sergey even bought a Google Jet, widely known as Boeing 767-200. It was bought in the year 2005 for approximately $15 million.
Recognition:
Page’s name featured under World Economic Forum Global Leader for Tomorrow in 2002. Along with Brin’s, his name appeared in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)’s Technology Review publication under the list of the top 100 innovators in the world under the age of 35. Both of them received the Marconi Foundation’s prize and were even elected Fellows of the Marconi Foundation at Columbia University. Both of them were also elected Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in the year 2005.
The year 2009 saw Page receiving an honorary doctorate from the University of Michigan. He occupied the 24th place on the Forbes List of Billionaires and the 11th place in the list of the richest persons in the U.S. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index ranked Page in the 17th place for being the richest man in the world in the year 2014. Fortune Magazine honored Page as its “Businessperson of the Year” at the end of 2014 and also announced that he is “the world’s most daring CEO”
| Full Name | Lawrence Page |
|---|---|
| Born | March 26, 1973 (age 42) |
| Place of Birth | East Lansing, Michigan, U.S. |
| Residence | Palo Alto, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Profession | Computer Scientist, Internet Entrepreneur. |
| Known for | Co-Founder of Google |
| Father | Dr. Carl Victor Page |
| Mother | Gloria |
| Spouse | Lucinda Southworth |
| Marriage Date | 2007 |
| Children | 2 children |
| Schooling | Okemos Montessori School, Michigan, East Lansing High School |
| College/University | University of Michigan (B.S), Stanford University (M.S) |
| Net Worth | US$ 30.1 billion (March 2015) |
| Recognition | Bloomberg Billionaires Index: 17th place (2014) Forbes, The World’s Billionaires List: 24th Wealthiest Person Forbes, List of Richest Person in U.S, 11th Rank Fortune Magazine, Business Person of the Year (2014) |
References : Biography.comAchievement.org
ievement.org/autodoc/page/pag0bio-1
Wikipedia
Businessinsider
Bornrich.com
Famous-entrepreneurs.com
Notablebiographies.com
Thefamouspeople.com
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