Sundar Pichai, the sought-after CEO of Google LLC and its parent company, Alphabet Inc, is a leader who re-scripted the story of his life to reach the pinnacle of success. His journey from a two-bedroom house to being a powerful CEO of the two largest companies in the world is an inspiration for everyone who wishes to make it big in life despite all the hardships.
His journey proves that Pichai has always been an achiever and continues to be so, even to this day. Despite his global popularity, Sundar Pichai is known for his simplicity, poised demeanor, and ability to create brilliant teams, which makes him an ideal leader that our younger generations can look up to.
In this infographic below, you will get an overview of Sundar Pichai’s incredible journey to becoming the head of two largest companies in the world, GOOGLE and ALPHABET Inc.
Infographic Content:
An Excellent Student
- Born in Chennai, India, on July 12, 1972, in a middle-class Tamil family.
- A bright student since his school days, Sundar had a talent for remembering numbers.
- Earned a B.Tech. Degree in metallurgy and a silver medal at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur in 1993.
- Earned MS in engineering and materials science after receiving a scholarship to study at Stanford University in 1995.
- Pursued MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania in 2002.
Pichai’s Early Career
- Started Working as an engineer and product manager at Applied Materials before getting an MBA from the Wharton School.
- Worked briefly at the management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. as a management consultant.
“I want to make products that people want to use. This is something that drives me.” ~ Sundar Pichai
Incredible journey with Google
- Began his journey at Google as the head of product management and development in 2004.
- Took over the development of Gmail and Google Maps in 2007.
- Oversaw the successful launch of the Chrome web browser in September, 2008.
- Became the senior Vice President of Google in 2012.
- Took over Google’s Android division in March 2013.
- Became the CEO of Google in August 2015.
- Named CEO of Alphabet, Google’s parent company in December 2019, replacing Larry Page.
Did you know?
- Pichai grew up in a middle-class home with little access to even simple gadgets, such as phones or computers.
“I saw my first computer at IIT.” ~ Sundar Pichai
Instrumental in Google’s Rise
- Helped convince manufacturers to pre-install the Google Toolbar on their computer hardware.
- Built a cool web browser demo with his team, which evolved into hugely successful Google Chrome.
- Through Google Chrome, Pichai managed to capture a reasonable share of the web browser market, which helped revive Google.
- Key player in helping put together Google’s $3.2 billion acquisition of Nest in 2014.
Lesser Known Facts about Sundar Pichai
- Rises up early between 6:30 and 7 am; though not a morning person.
- He does many of his meetings pacing up and down.
- Loves to read news on Wall Street Journal and New York Times instead of Google.
- His first mobile phone was a Motorola Startac, which he had in 1995.
- He was the captain of his school cricket team in high school.
Awards and Recognitions
- Received silver medal for excellence in academics at IIT Kharagpur in 1993.
- Awarded a scholarship to study at Stanford University in 1995.
- Named a Siebel Scholar and a Palmer Scholar in 2002.
- Received a hefty $240 million in performance-based stock awards from Alphabet Inc.
“It is Important to Follow Your Dreams and Heart. Do Something that Excites You.” ~ Sundar Pichai
Sources:
Biography, Britannica, BBC, Business Insider, Bloomberg, New York Times & Inc.com
