The two co-founders of the Internet search engine Google have been voted “Person of the Year 2005” by the Financial Times.
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Sergey Brin and Larry Page co-founded Google |
Sergey Brin and Larry Page are both just 32 years old this year, yet what their 7-year-old company has achieved in the past year has transformed the way users interact with the Internet, as well as the operational mechanisms of the global business and technology landscape.
“Ten years ago, a leading researcher at Stanford University wouldn’t have had access to the same fast and convenient Internet as a coffee shop customer in Bangladesh today,” Brin remarked.
The Financial Times also noted Google’s skyrocketing stock value. As of now, the company’s stock price is at $400, with a total market value nearing $130 billion – comparable to the giant IBM and only trailing behind Microsoft and Intel.
Not a single day in the past 12 months has gone by without the name Google being mentioned. Just this week, the search engine made headlines again when it “swooped in” on Microsoft, acquiring a 5% stake in AOL for $1 billion. This acquisition serves as a crucial stepping stone for the company to delve deeper into the lucrative online advertising market.
Commenting on Google’s success, the two Stanford alumni acknowledged that Google’s products are not yet perfect and still require further improvement. However, they emphasized that each enhancement presents an opportunity for Google to “uncover” a new business space. This also implies that more money is likely to flow in.
So, what is the future direction for Google? “Google has a massive computing infrastructure – very useful for biotechnology and microbiology,” Brin stated.
“We do not limit our vision and will never resist new ideas.” Google dominated the Internet landscape in 2005, but considering the “larger-than-life” ambitions of its co-founders, it is clear that this is just the beginning.
Destiny