Alphabet shares surged 2.8% to above $356 on Monday, reversing a 6.5% decline over the previous two trading sessions. This jump added a combined $15 billion to the net worth of cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
The tech giant’s shares rallied following a Forbes report that Google’s parent company is developing a new artificial intelligence chip. This chip is expected to be up to 10 times more energy-efficient than its predecessor.
AI Chip Innovation Drives Surge
Referred to internally as “Frozen v2,” the chip is reportedly being developed to run Google’s Gemini AI models more efficiently. This innovation is a key factor in the recent market optimism.
Alphabet stock has seen significant growth, climbing 87.5% over the past year, with a 13% gain recorded so far in 2026, according to Forbes.
Founders' Fortunes Soar
The increase in Alphabet’s share price added $8 billion to Page’s net worth and $7.4 billion to Brin’s, Forbes estimates reveal. 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, positioning him as 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.
Both founders have experienced dramatic growth in their fortunes in recent years. Page’s wealth was just under $51 billion in 2020 before climbing above $144 billion at the start of 2025. Similarly, Brin’s wealth surged from $49 billion to $138 billion over the same period, according to Forbes’ estimates.
Strong Performance and Future Outlook
Alphabet is scheduled to report its second-quarter earnings after market close on Wednesday. Analysts, citing FactSet, 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.
Wall Street anticipates quarterly capital expenditure of approximately $45 billion, a nearly 26% increase over the previous quarter. This reflects Alphabet’s participation in a broad build-up of AI infrastructure among large-cap technology peers over the past year.
Google Cloud revenue, a key indicator for demand for Alphabet’s AI products, is projected to have surged 65% year-on-year to $22.4 billion in the quarter.
Navigating Regulatory Headwinds
Alphabet’s latest market rally occurs as the company navigates increasing regulatory pressure across major markets. Earlier this month, Nairametrics reported that the European Commission directed Google to open up 11 Android operating system features to competitors, including OpenAI.
The directive also requires the tech giant to share search data used to improve the performance of its services. This order is part of a broader regulatory framework under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), aimed at reducing Google’s dominance in the digital market, according to Reuters.
Google has strongly opposed these requirements, arguing that the measures could weaken privacy and security safeguards for millions of European users.
