Google Stock Hits $800 For First Time
Image via Flickr/ David Orban
“Slow and steady wins the race,” could be Google co-founder and CEO Larry Page’s slogan as the search giant’s stock tipped the $800 point for the first time Tuesday more than five years after it first reached $700. Of course the Great Recession happened during that period, and Google’s stock plunged to as low as $247 near the end of 2008, but what companies didn’t during that time? Google even repriced employee stock options in 2009. But since Page took the helm from former CEO Eric Schmidt in April 2011, everything has been coming up roses.
Under Page’s leadership, Google introduced the Google Plus social network to compete with Facebook and its free Android software is now running on more than 600 million smartphones and tablets—offering greater opportunity to sell advertising. Google-owned YouTube has also established itself as an ever-increasing advertising vehicle, and—perhaps most importantly—the Google search engine remains the industry leader by a landslide and stocks have risen 35 percent.
Unlike tech competitor Facebook, Google’s stock never fallen below its 2004 IPO price of $85. Plus, whereas tech giant Apple tends to rely on new product launches to boost its stock, Google continues to march steadily forward.
To Page, however, the $800 threshold is just a number. He and fellow Google leadership actually wanted to split the stock last year in order to double the number of shares. The move has been put on hold until Google resolves a pending shareholder suit alleging the split unfairly gives too much power to Page and co-founder Sergey Brin, however. The Delaware trial is scheduled to begin June 17.
Stockholders can certainly be greedy. If not for Page and Brin, there wouldn’t be a Google. And if not for Page’s leadership, Google certainly wouldn’t be the company it is today. They’ve gotten it right thus far, and Page has helped make Google stockholders richer than they would be otherwise, why whine about unfairness?
