Google co-founder Sergey Brin is feeling especially generous lately. Indeed, in a recent disclosure filed Monday, Brin apparently gifted $600 million worth of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) stock to an anonymous recipient. Interestingly, the mystery gift comes after both Brin and fellow co-founder Larry Page enjoyed one of their strongest weeks for their wealth in more than two years off the back of GOOG stock.
So, what do you need to know about Brin lately?
Well, last week Brin and Page’s combined wealth skyrocketed by $18 billion after investors rallied around GOOG stock on a promising artificial intelligence (AI) announcement. In fact, just a day before Brin’s gift, the tech giant announced it was expanding its AI-powered chatbot’s availability. The company also unveiled that it was developing “a more conversational search engine.”
After last week’s gains, Brin’s net worth now surpasses $100.7 billion, the ninth-highest in the world per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Brin has sold more than $10 billion of Alphabet shares since the company’s 2004 initial public offering (IPO).
Brin’s latest gift mirrors a similar transfer he made last year, of about 1 million shares. In the past, Brin also used some of his Alphabet shares to launch Catalyst4, a nonprofit committed to health and climate change. That said, the project was mostly funded from Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares sold in 2021.
What’s going on with GOOG stock lately?
GOOG Stock Surges on AI Announcements
Investors have been clamoring over Alphabet stock lately, maybe for good reason. Indeed, from around $87 in January, last week’s news pushed GOOG shares up to roughly $120 apiece. That’s their highest level since August of last year.
A number of investment firms even expanded their positions in Alphabet amid recent 13-F filings. This includes Bill Ackman’s Perishing Square Capital Management, which began a fresh stake in Alphabet’s Class A GOOGL and Class C GOOG shares worth a combined $1.1 billion.
Previously, Alphabet stock growth had been slightly trailing behind the company’s Big Tech rivals, like Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), despite having climbed about 18% in the first quarter.
Indeed, the search-engine giant has come under fire recently as a result of the explosive growth of AI chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Fortunately, though, investors seem relatively convinced by Alphabet’s own recently revealed chatbot called Bard.
Today, shares are on pace to close with a market capitalization above $1.5 trillion, which last happened in late 2022. Whether this marks the beginning of a new climb for GOOGL and GOOG stock remains to be seen.
On the date of publication, Shrey Dua did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
