Larry Page facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Larry Page
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Page in 2009
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Lawrence Edward Page
March 26, 1973 Lansing, Michigan, U.S.
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Lucinda Southworth
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| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Carrie Southworth (sister-in-law) |
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Lawrence Edward Page (born March 26, 1973) is an American businessman and computer expert. He is best known for creating Google with his friend Sergey Brin.
Larry Page was the chief executive officer (CEO) of Google from 1997 to 2001. He then became CEO again from 2011 to 2015. After that, he led Alphabet Inc., which is Google's parent company, until December 2019. He is still a board member and a major shareholder of Alphabet.
As of June 2025, Larry Page is one of the richest people in the world. He has also invested in companies that are developing flying cars. He helped create and gave his name to PageRank. This is a special computer program that Google uses to rank websites in search results.
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Larry Page's Early Life
Larry Page was born on March 26, 1973, in Lansing, Michigan. His father, Carl Victor Page Sr., was a computer science professor. His mother, Gloria, taught computer programming. Larry grew up in a home filled with computers and science magazines. This environment helped him become very interested in technology.
When Larry was six, his father brought home a computer. Larry quickly learned how to use it for his schoolwork. He loved taking things apart to see how they worked. From a young age, he knew he wanted to invent things and start a company.
Larry also studied music, playing the flute and saxophone. He believes his music training helped him think about speed in computing. He said that in music, time is very important. This idea influenced his desire for Google to be super fast.
Larry Page's Education
Larry Page went to Montessori School from ages two to seven. He then attended East Lansing High School, graduating in 1991. He also spent summers at Interlochen Center for the Arts, focusing on music.
He earned his first degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1995. Later, he received a Master of Science degree in Computer Science from Stanford University in 1998.
While at the University of Michigan, Larry built an inkjet printer using Lego bricks. He wanted to find a cheap way to print large posters. He also thought about creating a driverless monorail system for the university.
How Google Was Born
After college, Larry Page started a PhD program at Stanford University. He wanted to study how websites are connected to each other. His professor encouraged him to explore this idea. Larry also thought about self-driving cars at this time.
Larry focused on how to find out which web pages linked to a specific page. He believed that the number and quality of these links could show how important a page was. This idea was similar to how academic papers are cited.
Sergey Brin, another Stanford student, joined Larry's project. They called their project "BackRub." Together, they wrote a famous paper about building a large-scale web search engine.
Developing the Search Engine
To figure out how important a web page was, Larry and Sergey created the PageRank program. They realized this program could make a much better search engine than any that existed. Their program looked at how relevant the links between web pages were.
They turned Larry's dorm room into a lab. They used computer parts to connect their new search engine to Stanford's internet. Soon, their project grew so much that it caused problems for Stanford's computer system!
Larry and Sergey used basic computer coding to make a simple search page. They gathered any computer parts they could find to handle many users. By August 1996, an early version of Google was available on the Stanford University website.
By early 1997, their "BackRub" project could already search and rank pages by importance. Larry realized they had a powerful tool. He said that by mid-1998, they were getting 10,000 searches a day. That's when they knew their project was something special.
Many people compare Larry and Sergey's work to Johannes Gutenberg, who invented the printing press. Just as Gutenberg made books available to many, Google made information accessible to everyone.
Google's Journey
Starting Google (1998–2000)
Larry and Sergey needed money to start their company. They got funds from friends, family, and even a $100,000 check from a co-founder of Sun Microsystems. The only problem was, "Google, Inc." didn't officially exist yet!
In 1998, they officially started Google, Inc. The name "Googol" comes from a huge number: one followed by one hundred zeros. This name showed how much information their search engine would explore. They rented a garage in Menlo Park, California, for $1,700 a month.
Their goal was to "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." By June 2000, Google had indexed one billion internet addresses. This made it the biggest search engine on the web at that time.
Larry's Leadership Style
When Larry was first CEO, he wanted engineers to report directly to other engineers. He believed that people with technical knowledge should lead technical teams. He also wanted Google's search engine to be super fast. He focused on every tiny delay, pushing his teams to make things quicker. This is why Google's homepage was so simple and loaded quickly.
Changes and Growth (2001–2011)
Big investors wanted a more experienced leader for Google. So, in 2001, Eric Schmidt became Google's CEO. Larry Page then focused on products.
Under Eric Schmidt, Google grew a lot. It became a public company in 2004. Larry Page still had a big say in new hires and major decisions. He became a billionaire at age 30.
In 2005, Larry led the purchase of Android for $50 million. He wanted people to be able to use Google on their phones anywhere. This purchase happened without Eric Schmidt knowing, but it turned out to be a great move. Android quickly became the most popular mobile operating system in the world.
Larry Returns as CEO (2011–2013)
In April 2011, Larry Page became Google's CEO again. Google was now a huge company with thousands of employees. Larry wanted to give more freedom to leaders of different Google teams. He also wanted teams to work together better.
He created a special group of senior leaders who worked closely with him. Larry also made a "zero tolerance for fighting" rule. He wanted everyone to work in harmony to achieve big goals.
Larry also started a big project to make all of Google's products look and feel the same. Many Google products were shut down, and the remaining ones were updated. This project was called "Kennedy." It made Google's products simpler and cleaner.
New Ideas and Acquisitions
When Larry thought about buying other companies, he used the "toothbrush test." He asked: "Is it something you will use once or twice a day, and does it make your life better?" This meant he looked for useful products, not just profitable ones.
In 2011, Google launched its own social network, Google+. Larry also led Google to buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. This was mainly to get patents to protect Android from lawsuits. Later, in 2014, Google sold Motorola Mobility for less money.
Larry also ventured into hardware. In 2012, Google released the Chromebook, a laptop that runs on Google's own operating system.
Big Visions (2013–2015)
In 2013, Larry Page talked about his "10X" mentality. This means Google employees should aim to create products that are 10 times better than what already exists. He said that if you're not doing "crazy" things, you're doing the wrong things.
He also started Calico in 2013. This is a research project focused on human health and biotechnology. Larry said he believed they could improve millions of lives by thinking big about healthcare.
In 2014, Larry changed Google's management structure. He wanted to focus on big, new projects like Google X (which works on futuristic ideas) and Calico. He still kept an eye on Google's main products.
On August 10, 2015, Larry announced that Google would become part of a new parent company called Alphabet Inc.. Larry became the CEO of Alphabet, and Sundar Pichai became the CEO of Google. Larry explained that Alphabet was a collection of companies. This change allowed different parts of the company to run more independently. He also said the name "Alphabet" was chosen because it represents language and how Google indexes information.
Since 2015, Larry Page has been less involved in daily business. He focuses more on "moonshot" projects, which are very ambitious and futuristic ideas.
Stepping Down (2019)
On December 3, 2019, Larry Page announced he would step down as CEO of Alphabet. Sundar Pichai took over his role, while also remaining CEO of Google. Larry and Sergey Brin explained that Alphabet was well-established, and it was time to simplify the company's leadership.
Other Interests
Larry Page is an investor in Tesla Motors, a company that makes electric cars. He also supports renewable energy technology. He helped set up Singularity University, which is a place that studies how advanced technology can help humanity.
Larry has invested in companies that develop flying vehicles for personal travel. He also founded Dynatomics in 2023, a company that uses artificial intelligence to improve how products are made.
Personal Life
In 2007, Larry Page married Lucinda Southworth on Necker Island, which is owned by Richard Branson. They have two children, born in 2009 and 2011.
Larry Page bought a historic house in Palo Alto, California, in 2005. He later bought nearby properties to build a large eco-friendly house. This house was designed to have a minimal impact on the environment. It uses recycled materials and has solar panels.
In 2011, Larry bought a large yacht called Senses. In 2013, he shared that he has a condition that affects his vocal cords. He has donated a lot of money to research this condition.
In 2014, Larry's family foundation donated $15 million to help fight the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa. He wrote that his heart went out to everyone affected.
Larry Page has also bought several private islands in the Caribbean and South Pacific.
Awards and Achievements
Larry Page has received many awards for his work with Google:
- In 1998, PC Magazine named Google one of the Top 100 Web Sites.
- In 2002, he was named a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum.
- In 2003, he and Sergey Brin received an honorary MBA degree for their entrepreneurial spirit.
- In 2004, they received the Marconi Foundation's prize for their invention that changed how information is found.
- In 2005, they were chosen as Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
- In 2008, Google received the Communication Award from Prince Felipe at the Prince of Asturias Awards.
- In 2009, Larry received an honorary doctorate from the University of Michigan.
- In 2014, Fortune magazine named Larry Page its "Businessperson of the Year."
- In 2015, he was ranked number one on Forbes' "America's Most Popular Chief Executives" list, based on votes from Google employees.
- In 2017, he was given honorary citizenship of Agrigento, Italy.
See also
In Spanish: Larry Page para niños
