Google is owned by Alphabet Inc., a publicly traded American holding company listed on Nasdaq under GOOGL and GOOG. Alphabet held a market capitalization of roughly $4.21 trillion on August 19, 2026, according to StockAnalysis data. Google LLC has no outside shareholders of its own.
Google ownership at a glance
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Ownership type | Wholly owned subsidiary of a public company |
| Parent company | Alphabet Inc. (via XXVI Holdings Inc.) |
| Largest shareholders | Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Vanguard, BlackRock (all hold Alphabet stock) |
| Market cap | $4.21 trillion (August 19, 2026) |
| Last acquisition | Wiz, $32 billion, closed March 11, 2026 |
| Founded | September 1998 |
| Headquarters | Mountain View, California |
| CEO | Sundar Pichai (Alphabet and Google) |
Who owns Google today?
The ownership chain runs three layers deep. Alphabet Inc. owns XXVI Holdings Inc., which in turn holds all of Google LLC. That structure appears in Alphabet’s own SEC filings, including a Schedule 13G filed in August 2026.
Alphabet’s 2026 proxy statement defines the relationship plainly: the word Google refers to Google LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Alphabet.
No investor can buy shares in Google LLC directly. Anyone holding GOOGL or GOOG owns a piece of Alphabet, and Google sits inside that holding company alongside Waymo, Wing, Verily and the rest of the Other Bets.
Google itself accounts for nearly all of Alphabet’s business. In the quarter ended June 30, 2026, Alphabet reported $119.8 billion in revenue, of which Google Services delivered $94.5 billion and Google Cloud $24.8 billion. Other Bets brought in $382 million and lost $1.8 billion.
Who owns Alphabet, Google’s parent company?
Alphabet has three share classes. Class A (GOOGL) carries one vote, Class C (GOOG) carries none, and Class B carries ten votes and is not traded publicly.
Per the April 2026 proxy, Larry Page held 389,051,160 Class B shares for 27.4% of total voting power, and Sergey Brin held 358,939,978 shares for 25.3%. Their combined 52.7% is an outright majority.
Directors and executive officers as a group held 770,340,078 Class B shares, or about 54.3% of all votes. Both founders stepped back from executive roles in 2019 and remain on the board.
Alphabet total voting power, April 2026 proxy statement
What else does Alphabet own?
Google’s own portfolio includes YouTube, bought for $1.65 billion in 2006, and Android, acquired in 2005. Advertising infrastructure came from DoubleClick at $3.1 billion in 2008.
Wiz is the largest purchase in company history. The $32 billion all-cash deal was announced in March 2025 and closed on March 11, 2026, with the cloud security firm joining Google Cloud and keeping its brand.
Alphabet also holds minority positions in companies it does not control. It owns about 14% of Anthropic without voting rights or board seats, and a July 2026 filing valued its private-company investments at roughly $124.3 billion as of June 30, driven mainly by that stake. If you want the rest of that cap table, see the full breakdown of Anthropic’s shareholders.
In April 2026, Google agreed to put $10 billion more into Anthropic at a $350 billion valuation, with up to $30 billion further tied to performance targets. Google LLC separately reported 551,189,500 SpaceX Class A shares, or 7.2% of that class, as of June 30, 2026.
Who are the biggest investors in Google?
Index funds dominate the economic side of Alphabet’s register while controlling few votes. The proxy’s beneficial ownership table lists these holders of Class A stock:
- Vanguard Group: 493,782,758 Class A shares, roughly 8.5% of the class and 3.5% of total votes
- BlackRock: 356,934,964 Class A shares, roughly 6% of the class
- Larry Page: 27.4% of votes through Class B stock
- Sergey Brin: 25.3% of votes through Class B stock
Vanguard told the SEC in March 2026 that an internal realignment ended its aggregated reporting, so its subsidiaries now file separately. The split between economic ownership and control mirrors what happens at private AI labs, where OpenAI’s nonprofit parent keeps governance in a small circle.
Is Google publicly traded?
Google itself is not. Alphabet is, on Nasdaq under GOOGL for Class A shares and GOOG for non-voting Class C shares.
Google went public on August 19, 2004 at $85 per share, then reorganized under Alphabet on October 2, 2015. Investors tracking the next wave of listings can follow which AI companies are lining up to debut.
FAQ
Who founded Google?
Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google in September 1998 while PhD students at Stanford University. Both still sit on Alphabet’s board and together control 52.7% of Alphabet’s voting power through Class B shares.
Does Microsoft or Apple own any part of Google?
No. Neither holds a stake in Alphabet. Apple receives payments from Google for default search placement on Safari, but that is a commercial agreement rather than an ownership interest.
Who is the largest shareholder of Alphabet?
Vanguard Group holds the largest economic position with about 8.5% of Class A stock. Larry Page is the largest shareholder by control, holding 27.4% of total voting power as of April 2026.
Can you buy shares in Google LLC?
No. Google LLC issues no public stock. Buying GOOGL or GOOG on Nasdaq gives you shares in Alphabet Inc., the parent company that owns Google and the Other Bets.
Does Google own Anthropic?
No. Google holds roughly 14% of Anthropic, capped at 15% by agreement, with no voting rights, board seats or observer rights. Anthropic remains independent and also partners with Amazon.
