Sergey Brin consistently ranks as the fourth richest person in the world according to Forbes real-time data. His net worth reaches US$267.6 billion, or approximately Rp4,763.5 trillion, with the primary source coming from his shareholdings in Google and Alphabet Inc., Google's parent company.
Brin's journey began in university. The Moscow-born man who migrated to the United States studied mathematics and computer science at the University of Maryland, then continued his graduate education at Stanford University. In 1995, at age 22, he met Larry Page on campus.
Brin and Page initially clashed frequently due to their different personalities, but both were united by their interest in the problem of extracting data from large collections of information. They developed an algorithm called PageRank that assessed the importance of web pages based on the number and quality of links pointing to them. In 1997 they renamed their search engine project to Google, and formally established the company in 1998 in a rented garage.
As Co-founder, Brin served as President of Technology and led Google's innovation projects, including Google X which created Google Glass and the development of autonomous vehicles. When Google restructured into Alphabet Inc. in 2015, Brin was appointed President of Alphabet until he stepped down from daily executive duties in late 2019, although he maintained his influence as controlling shareholder and board member.
Despite achieving billionaire status, Brin chose to accept a salary of just US$1 per year. After Google went public, Brin and Page refused to accept large salaries and reduced their base salary to that level, with their wealth purely supported by the value of their company shareholdings.
In addition, Brin is known for his eccentric personality. In Google's early development, he frequently rolled around the office on roller skates. He is also active in extreme sports such as trapeze and has a high curiosity about technology. Brin even assembled a gaming computer with his son to mine Ethereum cryptocurrency in order to understand the concept of blockchain decentralisation. He also founded LTA Research & Exploration, a company that develops modern high-altitude balloon aircraft for global humanitarian relief missions.
