Google, the Berkshire Hathaway of Tech

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A Quiet Empire in Plain Sight

For most of the world, Google is synonymous with search, YouTube, and Gmail. But behind that familiar logo lies one of the most quietly powerful investment portfolios in modern history — a web of ownerships, acquisitions, and incubations that make Google look less like a tech company and more like Berkshire Hathaway with servers.

Over the past two decades, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has built a business model that doesn’t just dominate the present — it owns pieces of the future.

A Portfolio That Mirrors the Next Century

Google’s balance sheet reads like a blueprint of tomorrow’s industries.

• 14% stake in Anthropic, the fast-rising AI lab behind the Claude models — a direct challenger to OpenAI.

• 8% of SpaceX, Elon Musk’s space venture that’s revolutionizing satellites and space logistics.

• Through CapitalG, Google’s growth investment arm, it holds equity in companies like Stripe, UiPath, Airbnb, Databricks, Duolingo, CrowdStrike, Lyft, and Robinhood.

It’s a portfolio that spans AI, fintech, automation, cybersecurity, and digital infrastructure — the same domains expected to define the global economy for decades to come.

Acquisitions That Aged Like Gold

Google’s record of strategic acquisitions might be unmatched in tech history.

• DoubleClick (2007) – Bought for $3.1 billion, it became the foundation of Google’s ad empire, driving much of its $250+ billion annual revenue today.

• YouTube (2006) – Acquired for $1.65 billion, a deal mocked at the time, now worth hundreds of billions.

• Android (2005) – Purchased for $50 million, it now powers over 70% of the world’s smartphones.

• DeepMind (2014) – Bought for $500 million, the AI lab behind groundbreaking models like AlphaFold and Gemini’s reasoning core.

Each deal was a masterclass in long-term vision — not just buying companies, but acquiring technological foundations.

The Moonshot Factory: Betting on the Impossible

Alphabet’s secret weapon isn’t only its money — it’s its willingness to experiment.
Inside X (The Moonshot Factory), engineers and scientists build audacious projects:

• Waymo, pushing the frontier of autonomous driving.

• Loon, a now-shelved effort to beam internet from balloons.

• Wing, developing drone delivery networks.

Most of these ideas never reach profitability. But a few — like Waymo — could redefine trillion-dollar markets. It’s a mindset straight from Berkshire’s playbook: accept small losses to win big over time.

A Conglomerate of Tomorrow

Warren Buffett built Berkshire Hathaway by accumulating businesses that compound value over decades — railroads, insurance, energy.
Alphabet is doing the same, but in digital form: AI, robotics, data, and automation.

Google’s real genius isn’t its search algorithm — it’s its ability to turn information into capital, and capital into new frontiers.

The company’s portfolio doesn’t just reflect today’s internet — it anticipates what comes next.

Credit: Written & reported by FutureGenNews Editorial Team
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