Google is now Alphabet


Google is separating its web properties from its research and investment arms, with all the entities now coming under a new umbrella company called Alphabet, Google's founders announced in a blog post Monday. In addition to Google, Alphabet will hold Calico (which focuses on health research) and Life Sciences (a contact lens company).
"We've long believed that over time companies tend to get comfortable doing the same thing, just making incremental changes," Google co-founder and Alphabet CEO Larry Page wrote. "Our company is operating well today, but we think we can make it cleaner and more accountable."
Page's co-founder, Sergey Brin, will serve as Alphabet president. Sundar Pichai, Page's deputy, will become CEO of Google, which Bloomberg Business reports generates most of the company's annual $60 billion in revenue. Shares of Google will automatically become shares of Alphabet.
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Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.
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