The billionaire IIT graduate in question is none other than the Alphabet Inc. and its subsidiary Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai. There is almost no aspect of our daily life untouched by the corporate giant, and this IIT alumnus is at the top of its executive chain of command. The company he leads has a market cap of 1.17 trillion USD and his compensation for 2022 was a whopping 226 million USD. His net worth in 2022 was estimated to be 1,310 million USD or INR 10,215 crore according to the Hurun List. He was also the highest paid chief executive in the US in 2015 when he was awarded 199 million USD worth of shares. Here’s more about the Google CEO and billionaire tycoon from India:
Sundar Pichai was born on July 12, 1972, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. His father worked as an electrical engineer, and the family lived in a modest two-room apartment. Despite their humble background, Pichai demonstrated exceptional academic talent from a young age.
He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, one of the most prestigious engineering institutions in India. He later pursued postgraduate studies at Stanford University in the United States, where he earned a Master's degree in Material Sciences and Engineering and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Sundar Pichai joined Google in 2004, initially working on the development of the Google Toolbar. He is majorly responsible for the Google search page results function this day, playing an indemonstrable rule in the company’s image as it stands today. Later on, Pichai played a pivotal role in the development and launch of various successful products, including Google Chrome, which became the dominant web browser, and Chrome OS, a lightweight operating system. His leadership and vision contributed significantly to the success of Google's products and services.
In August 2015, Sundar Pichai was named the CEO of Google, succeeding co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. But his rise through the corporate chain as he was appointed the CEO of Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc. in 2019.
Pichai is also involved in various philanthropic efforts. The company’s philanthropic arm, Google.org, has supported initiatives related to education, technology, and healthcare. Pichai has also been an advocate for issues such as immigration reform and artificial intelligence ethics. He has played a vital role in development of the world’s most popular web browser Google Chrome and a significant role in the growth of Android. His work and brilliance has been recognised by the government of India as well as he was awarded the Padma Bhushan in the category of Trade and Industry, the country's third-highest civilian award, in 2022.