Today’s Google Doodle Celebrates Google’s 16th Birthday

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If you’ve stopped by Google‘s (GOOG) homepage today, then you’ve probably noticed the festive party hat casually dangling atop the “G”. That’s because today’s Google Doodle is a humble nod to another milestone for the company: Google’s 16th birthday.

Most mortals can only aspire to earn a driver’s license by the time their sweet sixteen rolls around. But the Mountain View, California-based search giant had other plans, like earning a $390 billion valuation. You might be able to score yourself a clunker or two for that sum.

While we all know that one of the tech sector’s few true elites has been wildly successful for a teenager, how can investors feel about Google’s 16th birthday? What does an early believer’s return look like?

The simple fact of the matter is that the average individual investor couldn’t have bought in, even if they wanted to, back in 1998. Co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin were working out of a garage sixteen years ago on a $100,000 investment from Sun Microsystems co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim.

Fast forward six years and a young Google had already expertly weathered the dot-com bubble and surpassed IAC/InterActiveCorp‘s (IACI) Ask.com (remember Jeeves?) for search engine dominance. Google had arrived, and on Aug. 19, 2004, Google went public at $85 per share, or $42.50 per share when adjusting for the GOOG-GOOGL stock split back in April. Investors who didn’t get in at the IPO price still could’ve bought the stock for a split-adjusted $50 on the first day of trading.

To any investor wise enough to put their money in Google stock in the early days, I’ll look the other way while you pour yourself and the kid a drink. I mean, just take a look at the GOOGL stock chart. It’s a thing of beauty:

googl stock goog stock google's 16th birthday google doodle

That’s right, investors who bought into Google six years after the garage era still could have earned nearly 1,000% on their dollar. Those are the types of returns that typically only equities can offer. Maybe the “Bond King” Bill Gross is leaving Pimco to try his hand at stocks. (Just kidding, he’s going to Janus Capital.)

All that is to say that today’s Google Doodle is an appropriate and humble way to celebrate Google’s 16th birthday. They grow up quick, don’t they?

Here’s to a continued growth spurt, and for more opportunities like the 2004 Google IPO to come along soon. Larry and Sergey have earned themselves a drink and a funny hat. And they certainly don’t have to save up for clunkers.

As of this writing, John Divine owned shares of GOOGL stock and GOOG stock. He wishes he had bought in at the IPO.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2014/09/google-doodle-googles-16th-birthday/.

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