AI drive brings Pichai closer to B-club
California, April 30: Alphabet Inc. Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai is on the cusp of achieving a rare milestone for a non-founder tech executive: a 10-figure fortune.
Since Pichai, 51, became chief executive officer of Google in 2015, the stock has surged more than 400 per cent, significantly outperforming the S&P 500 and Nasdaq over the same period. It hit a fresh record after the company’s first-quarter earnings beat expectations, boosted by AI-driven growth in its cloud computing unit.
That rally, alongside hefty stock awards that have made him one of the world’s highest-paid executives, has boosted Pichai’s fortune to nearly $1 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Pichai joined Google in 2004 as a product manager, leading development of major projects like the Google Toolbar and Google Chrome.
Pichai’s humility and ability to build consensus emerged early on, said Keval Desai, who worked with him during his first years at Google.
“He’s not looking to be the most dominant voice,” said Desai, who is now a founder and managing director at Shakti Venture Capital. “He’s very comfortable in his own skin. It allowed him very early on to be a great facilitator across these strong, opinionated
people.”
In 2019, Pichai became CEO of Alphabet, when Page and Sergey Brin stepped back from day-today management.
In his time as CEO, Pichai has overseen a major expansion of the company’s product line with addition of Google Assistant, Google Home, Google Pixel, Google Workspace and more. He was also an early adopter of artificial intelligence, calling it a “once-in-a-generation opportunity.”
Pichai’s net worth includes $424 million in current share holdings as well as roughly $600 million from share sales since he became CEO.
Pichai’s status as a nearbillionaire is a reminder of the value that he has created during his time at the helm of Google, Desai said.