Larry Page

Google is a massive search engine with over a million of servers and over 24,000 employees. Despite its enormity it was founded by only two men, Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Larry Page and Sergey Brin are radically different people with Brin being more factual and aloof and Page being more creative and full of the inventive ideas that Google is based on. While studying computer science at Stanford University in 1996 Larry Page thought of the PageRank system that makes Google work.  He wrote a thesis on it and turned in to his supervisor. His supervisor told him to build on his idea. Sergey Brin joined the project and together they patched together some computers and started up a server for the University students to use. It quickly caught on and they officially incorporated it on September 4, 1998.At the time most search engines were using algorithms that made research hard and frustrating often relied on annoying popup ads for funding. His original algorithm and business model made information more accessible to people all over the world. All of this he did because he thought that the world needed a good search engine, not for fame or money. A lot of the money he keeps for himself he uses to avoid the fame and shame the media wants to bring him for being a innovative,  world changing genius. The rest is spent on funding free Ben and Jerry's ice-cream for his employees.

Larry Page (google.com ())

Larry Page, one of the two founders of Google, has played a large part creating the society we know today."Google--a play on the word "googol"--was founded in 1998. Its tremendous impact was due to its ability to vastly improve the quality of Internet information retrieval. ("Larry Page." Gale Biography in Context.) Larry Page had stumbled upon an amazing discovery that could radically improve internet search engines. However not many people would actually see the potential in this idea. He didn't just see the potential; he harnessed it and built a small scale search engine with servers made of leftover computer parts. He did this all while studying for his doctorate for computer science. Shortly thereafter most of Stanford University was using it for research and he decided to make it a full scale operation with the help generous donation from Andy Betcholshiem. Google quickly took over the internet. By early 2004 Google was one of the most-visited Web sites in the world. Its servers handled some 138,000 search queries per minute or about two hundred million daily ("Larry Page and Sergey Brin." UXL Newsmakers.)Google allowed everyone free and easy access to websites by allowing people to find what they need easier. It worked so well that it became a verb, like Xerox before it, and now you can "Google" something to find information about it. Thanks to his creation all the world's knowledge is at our fingertips. Larry Page allowed us to communicate and share ideas better and faster helping unite people from all over the world.

Google perks (womansday.com ())

Despite Larry Page's serious position he managed to keep his creative side. His business strategy is a unique as his search engine. Maintaining a culture that is fun, relaxed and creative is essential to Google's success. In 2003 Google explained its novel search technology "PigeonRank" in an April Fools' Day insertion on their Web site that offered a behind-the-scenes glimpse into "the technology behind Google's great results." It was pigeons, the page explained, that helped deliver such quick and accurate search results. ("Larry Page and Sergey Brin." UXL Newsmakers.)His creativity lead him to be in charge of Google's new product and features' leading Google to its major success Gmail and its less successful +you."Page and Brin strove to keep Google's corporate culture relaxed in other ways, which they felt benefited the company in the long run. Its perks were legendary. There was free Ben and Jerry's ice cream, an on-site masseuse, a ping-pong table, yoga classes, and even a staff physician. Employees could bring their dogs to work, and the company cafeteria was run by a professional chef who used to work for the rock band the Grateful Dead. ("Larry Page and Sergey Brin." UXL Newsmakers. ) By keeping Google relaxed and stress free he helped the employees be more original and productive. Despite and probably because of this unorthodox strategy their stocks have consistently gone up. When questioned Larry Page says that his employees have earned their amazing perks.

Larry Page often ignored or outright refused any rewards that he got for his great achievements, for example "In 2007, Page chose to collect a salary of $1 for his work in 2006" ("Larry Page." Gale Biography in Context.)While Google was reeling in money hand over fist he decided that he would work for (almost) nothing to help improve Google. Page never intended to be rich or famous and didn't like press conferences or conferences in general he preferred to spend time with his family and friends. "Page, according to Ken Auletta, the New Yorker writer and author of Googled: The End of the World as We Know It is "aggressively disdainful of public relations and marketing" and in 2008 told the people at Google's PR department he would give them "a total of eight hours of his time that year for press conferences, speeches, or interviews". ("A very private poster boy.") Despite Larry's amazing accomplishments he has managed to stay surprisingly humble and often refuses to have anything to do with the media. He spends much of his time hidden among the Virgin Islands or busy working at Google leaving him very little time for the press

Larry Page made an enormous impact on the world by creating Google. He revolutionized the internet and made information more accessible for people everywhere. Larry Page made something as useful as the printing press but he made it free. He has as creative and freethinking as Einstein but he applied it. He has affected everyone with internet in a huge way and will continue doing so for a very long time. And all of this is based off an idea he had in college, an idea that changed the world forever.

Works Consulted

A very private poster boy." Independent [London, England] 22 Jan. 2011: 38. Global Issues In

Context. Web. 10 May 2012

Dinneen, Jonathan E. "Larry Page." Great Lives From History: Jewish Americans (2010): 24. Biography Reference Center. Web. 10 May 2012.

 Larry Page." Gale Biography in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 10 May 2012

"Larry Page and Sergey Brin." UXL Newsmakers. Ed. Jennifer Stock. 2nd ed. Detroit: U*X*L, 2005. Student Resource Center - Junior. Gale. DEL NORTE HIGH SCHOOL. 22 May. 2012