Alphabet jumps 2.8%, adds $15 billion to Google founders’ wealth

Alphabet shares jumped 2.8% to above $356 on Monday, reversing a 6.5% decline over the previous two trading sessions, and adding a combined $15 billion to the net worth of cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

The tech giant’s shares surged following a report that Google’s parent company is developing a new artificial intelligence chip expected to be up to 10 times more energy-efficient than its predecessor, according to a Forbes report.

The chip, referred to internally as “Frozen v2,” is reportedly being developed to run Google’s Gemini AI models more efficiently.

What the numbers are saying

Alphabet stock is now up 87.5% over the past year, including a 13% gain so far in 2026, according to Forbes.

• The jump in Alphabet’s share price added $8 billion to Page’s net worth and $7.4 billion to Brin’s, Forbes estimates reveal, as the two cofounders together hold a combined 87.9% of Alphabet’s Class B shares.
• Page’s net worth now stands at $288.4 billion, making him the world’s second-richest person behind Elon Musk, who Forbes estimates at $781.2 billion.
• Brin’s wealth stands at $266 billion, placing him third globally, according to Forbes.

Both founders have seen their fortunes grow dramatically in recent years. Page’s wealth stood at just under $51 billion in 2020 before climbing above $144 billion at the start of 2025, while Brin’s surged from $49 billion to $138 billion over the same period, according to Forbes’ estimates.

More insights

Alphabet is scheduled to report its second quarter earnings after market close on Wednesday.

• Analysts are expecting the company to post revenue of $117.1 billion and earnings per share of $2.90, representing year-on-year surges of 21% and 25% respectively, Forbes reports, citing FactSet.
• Wall Street anticipates quarterly capital expenditure of approximately $45 billion, a nearly 26% increase over the previous quarter, as Alphabet has joined its large-cap technology peers in a broad build-up of AI infrastructure over the past year.

Google Cloud revenue, widely watched as a proxy for demand for Alphabet’s AI products, is projected to have surged 65% year-on-year to $22.4 billion in the quarter.

What you should know

Alphabet’s latest market rally comes at a time when the company is navigating increasing regulatory pressure across major markets.

• Earlier this month, Nairametrics reported that the European Commission has directed Google to open up 11 Android operating system features to competitors, including OpenAI, while requiring the tech giant to share search data used to improve the performance of its services.

The order forms part of a broader regulatory framework aimed at reducing Google’s dominance in the digital market under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), according to Reuters.

Google has strongly opposed the requirements, arguing that the measures could weaken privacy and security safeguards for millions of European users.