From Alphabet to Google Fiber - Here are 8 companies Sundar Pichai heads

Google chief Sundar Pichai has now taken over as the Chief Executive Officer of Alphabet, Google's parent company. The development came after founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin stepped down from active management. Pichai stepped into Google in 2004 and took charge of some of Google's most popular products, which include Gmail, Google Chrome browser and Android. But Pichai has done more than just keeping the lights on at Google. 

From cloud computing to search ads to health care software, Sundar Pichai put artificial intelligence at the center of the company’s pitch to customers and investors. 

Chennai-based Pichai grew up in India and migrated to the United States to attend his graduate school. "A Master’s degree from Stanford University, an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and a stint as a consultant at McKinsey & Co.," reads the resume of Sundar Pichai. 

With taking over as the CEO of Alphabet, here are 9 companies that will now be headed by Sundar Pichai.

Alphabet

Alphabet Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mountain View, California. It was created through a corporate restructuring of Google on October 2, 2015, and became the parent company of Google and several former Google subsidiaries. The two founders of Google assumed executive roles in the new company, with Larry Page serving as CEO and Sergey Brin as president. Alphabet is the world's fifth-largest technology company by revenue and one of the world's most valuable companies. Page and Brin announced their resignation from their executive posts in December 2019, with the CEO role to be filled with Sundar Pichai, also the CEO of Google.

Google Fiber

Google Fiber is part of the Access division of Alphabet Inc, which provides fiber-to-the-premises service in the United States, providing broadband Internet and IPTV to a small and slowly increasing number of locations. In mid-2016, Google Fiber had 68,715 television subscribers and was estimated to have about 453,000 broadband customers. Google Fiber was announced as a viable business model on December 12, 2012, when Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt stated "It's actually not an experiment, we're actually running it as a business," at the New York Times' DealBook Conference.

Google Nest

Google Nest is a brand of Google LLC used to market smart home products including smart speakers, smart displays, streaming devices, thermostats, smoke detectors, routers and security systems including smart doorbells, cameras and smart locks. Google acquired Nest Labs for US$3.2 billion in January 2014, when the company employed 280. As of late 2015, Nest employs more than 1,100 and added a primary engineering center in Seattle. After Google reorganized itself under the holding company Alphabet Inc., Nest operated independently of Google from 2015 to 2018. However, in 2018, Nest was merged into Google's home-devices unit led by Rishi Chandra, effectively ceasing to exist as a separate business. In May 2019, it was announced that all Google Home electronics products will henceforth be marketed under the brand.

Calico

Calico LLC is an American research and development biotech company founded on September 18, 2013, by Bill Maris and backed by Google with the goal of combating aging and associated diseases. In Google's 2013 Founders' Letter, Larry Page described Calico as a company focused on "health, well-being, and longevity". The company's name is an acronym for "California Life Company". In 2015, Google restructured into Alphabet Inc., making Calico a subsidiary of the new company along with Google and others. As of 2018, Calico has not developed any known drugs or biotechnology products.

Verily

Verily Life Sciences, also known as Verily (formerly Google Life Sciences), is Alphabet Inc.'s research organization devoted to the study of life sciences. The organization was formerly a division of Google X, until August 10, 2015, when Sergey Brin announced that the organization would become an independent subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. This restructuring process was completed on October 2, 2015. On December 7, 2015, Google Life Sciences was renamed Verily. 

GV

GV, formerly Google Ventures, is the venture capital investment arm of Alphabet Inc., founded by Bill Maris, that provides seed, venture and growth-stage funding to technology companies. The firm operates independently from Google and makes financially driven investment decisions. GV seeks to invest in startup companies in a variety of fields ranging from the Internet, software, and hardware to life science, healthcare, artificial intelligence, transportation, cybersecurity and agriculture. GV was founded as Google Ventures in 2009. GV has offices in Mountain View, San Francisco, New York City, Cambridge, and London. 

X - The Moonshot Factory

X Development (formerly Google X) is an American semi-secret research and development facility and organization founded by Google in January 2010, which now operates as a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. X has its headquarters about a mile and a half from Alphabet's corporate headquarters, the Googleplex, in Mountain View, California. On October 2, 2015, after the complete restructuring of Google into Alphabet, Google X became an independent Alphabet company and was renamed to X. 

CapitalG

CapitalG (formerly Google Capital) is a private equity firm under Alphabet Inc. Founded in 2013, it focuses on larger, growth stage technology companies and invests for profit rather than strategically for Google. In addition to capital investment, CapitalG's approach includes giving portfolio companies access to Google's people, knowledge, and culture to support the companies' growth and offer them guidance. Since 2013, CapitalG has invested in over 25 companies, in areas such as big data, financial technology, security and e-learning.

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