From Parkinson's research to climate change: Here's where Sergey Brin's gift of Alphabet shares worth $700 million went

Google co-founder Sergey Brin’s gift of Alphabet Inc. shares worth nearly $700 million was given to a trio of philanthropic organisations, according to a report by Bloomberg News citing a spokesperson for his family office.

A major portion of the gift went to Catalyst4, a nonprofit organisation established by Brin in 2021 with the aim of supporting research into central nervous system diseases and climate-change solutions. 

The 3.2 million shares were split equally between Alphabet Class A and Class C stock. These shares were estimated to be worth more than $500 million on Wednesday when the Brin declared in a regulatory filing that he gifted roughly 4.1 million Alphabet shares. The recipients of these shares were not disclosed in the exchange filing.

Over 580,000 Alphabet shares were allocated to Brin’s family foundation, and an additional 282,000 shares were gifted to the Michael J. Fox Foundation that deals with research into Parkinson’s disease, the report said, citing the spokesperson for Bayshore Global, his family office.

About Sergey Brin

Brin co-founded Alphabet, the holding company that owns Google, along with Larry Page in 1998. In 2019, both Brin and Page stepped down from top management roles. However, they continue to be board members and controlling shareholders.

10th richest in the world

The 51-year-old co-founder of Alphabet is the world’s 10th richest person with a net worth of nearly $143 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He is close behind Page, the world’s ninth-richest, with a net worth of nearly $153 billion.

The net worth of Brin is mostly made up of a combination of Class B and Class C shares of the company. According to Bloomberg data, since Google's initial public offering in 2004, Brin has sold more than $11 billion worth of shares.

Brin has often contributed to research on Parkinson’s disease. He has also funded startups tackling several initiatives, from psychedelics to an ambitious $155 billion project to construct "energy islands” in Copenhagen.