Sergey Brin

Early life

Sergey Brin was born in Moscow, Soviet Union, on August 21, 1973, to Russian Jewish parents, Mikhail and Eugenia Brin. His parents were both graduates of Moscow State University. In 1979, after his family received their exit visas, they emigrated to the United States, where Brin received his education. Brin attended elementary school at Paint Branch Montessori School in Adelphi, Maryland, and was homeschooled for further education.

He later attended Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Maryland. Brin enrolled in the University of Maryland in September 1990 and graduated with honors in computer science and mathematics at the age of 19. He continued his studies at Stanford University, where he earned a Master of Science in computer science in 1995. As of 2008, he was on leave from his PhD studies at Stanford.

In May 2007, Brin got married to biotech analyst and entrepreneur Anne Wojcicki in the Bahamas, and they had a son in 2008 and a daughter in 2011. However, after news of Brin’s extramarital affair with Amanda Rosenberg, Google Glass’s marketing director, the couple separated in August 2013 and later finalized their divorce in June 2015.

Brin then got married to legal tech founder Nicole Shanahan on November 7, 2018, and they welcomed a daughter in late 2018. Unfortunately, the couple separated on December 15, 2021, and Brin filed for divorce on January 4, 2022.

Brin’s mother, Eugenia, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and in 2008, Brin made a donation to the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where his mother was receiving treatment. Brin has reportedly donated over $1 billion to fund research on the disease, according to Forbes.

Despite their divorce, Brin and Wojcicki still jointly manage The Brin Wojcicki Foundation, through which they have made significant donations to The Michael J. Fox Foundation and the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society.

Brin is a supporter of the Democratic Party and has made donations to its candidates and organizations, including $5,000 to Barack Obama’s reelection campaign and $30,800 to the DNC.

According to CNBC, Brin developed an interest in blockchain technology after building a gaming computer with his son to mine Ethereum.

Career

Brin was born on August 21, 1973, in Moscow, Russia, and moved to the United States with his family when he was six years old. He graduated from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor’s degree in computer science and mathematics in 1993, and went on to earn a Master’s degree in computer science from Stanford University in 1995.

At a new student orientation at Stanford, Sergey Brin met Larry Page, with whom he initially disagreed on most subjects. However, the two became close friends and intellectual soulmates after spending time together. Brin’s focus was on developing data mining systems, while Page was interested in extending the concept of inferring a research paper’s importance from its citations in other papers. Together, they wrote a paper titled “The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine”.

Brin and Page developed the PageRank algorithm to convert BackRub’s backlink data into a measure of importance for a web page, realizing that it could be used to build a superior search engine. The algorithm used new technology that analyzed the relevance of backlinks connecting web pages and allowed the number of links and their rank to determine the page’s rank. They used spare parts from inexpensive computers to create a device that connected the search engine to Stanford’s broadband campus network, using Page’s dormitory room as a machine laboratory.

Brin served as the President of Technology at Google until 2011, when he became a co-founder of Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company. In addition to his work at Google and Alphabet, Brin has been involved in a number of philanthropic and scientific initiatives.

Brin and Page set up their new search engine designs on the web in Page’s dorm room, which was filled with equipment. They then converted Brin’s dorm room into an office and programming center, where they tested their search engine designs. However, the project’s rapid growth caused Stanford’s computing infrastructure to experience problems.

To set up a simple search page for users, Page used his basic HTML programming skills since they did not have a web page developer to create visually elaborate pages. They also used any computer part they could find to assemble the necessary computing power to handle searches by multiple users. As their search engine gained popularity among Stanford users, it required additional servers to process the queries. The initial version of Google was made available on the Stanford website in August 1996.

Net Worth

As of February 2023, Brin is ranked as the 9th wealthiest person globally, with an estimated net worth of $89.0 billion.

Achievement

Sergey Brin has received numerous awards and honors for his contributions to the technology industry and beyond. Some of his notable awards and achievements include:

National Academy of Engineering membership in 2004

Marconi Prize in 2004

Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2002

Honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from the University of California, Berkeley in 2009

One of the "100 most influential people in the world" by Time magazine in 2004, 2008, and 2009

One of the "100 most influential people in the world" by Time magazine in 2004, 2008, and 2009

Inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame in 2012

Honorary degree of Doctor of Science from Stanford University in 2019

These are just a few examples of the many awards and honors Brin has received throughout his career. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and innovative figures in the technology industry.