BackHere are Alphabet’s most notable businesses besides Google
Google will make the money, and everything else might change the world
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Google is starting a new company called Alphabet, which will be a subsidiary of Google’s for a while. Then Alphabet becomes the parent company, and Google becomes just one of its subsidiaries. Google co-founder Larry Page will run the overall organization. It’s not yet clear how Google will restructure its various entities—in a release issued on Monday, Page promises more details “later this year"—but here’s a list of some of Alphabet’s other notable businesses.
Going forward, the business known as Google will be in charge of search, ads, maps, apps, YouTube, and Android, as well as the tech that underlies these services. This means that pretty much everything that makes money will be grouped together, under the care of Sundar Pichai, who has previously been in charge of Android. Google makes about 90% of its revenue from advertising today.
Calico
This is a research company devoted to coming up with tech to “increase our understanding of the biology that controls lifespan."
Life Sciences
A division of Google X, Life Sciences works on the highly-publicized smart contact lens project.
Nest
Google acquired Nest, initially known for its smart thermostat, last year for $3.2 billion. Since then, Nest has released an expanding line of Internet-connected gadgets for the home.
Fiber
Google’s high-speed broadband business has been around since 2010. It was initially launched in the Kansas City area and has since expanded to over a half-dozen cities in the US. The company has been saying for several years that Fiber could be a viable business, although some analysts see it primarily as a way to push other companies to upgrade their own infrastructure, while also getting a seat at the table in discussions with regulators.
Google Ventures and Google Capital
These are Google’s investment arms. Google Ventures, which invests in early-stage companies, has made over 300 investments, including Uber, Periscope, Blue Bottle Coffee, and 23andMe. Google Capital invests in later-stage companies, including LendingClub, SurveyMonkey, and FanDuel.
Google X
And then there’s the moonshot laboratory, where Google experiments with things like self-driving cars and balloons that carry the Internet to remote locations. Some investors have been sceptical about Google’s spending on such far-flung projects. Now, at least technically, Google isn’t in charge of them.
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