Sergey Brin gifts $1.1 bn in Alphabet stock to charities after AI rally

By Biz Carson

 

Sergey Brin gave away more than $1.1 billion worth of Alphabet Inc. stock this week, with most of the money going to a nonprofit the Google co-founder created. 

The donation was disclosed Friday in a regulatory filing, which didn’t specify who had received the more than 3.5 million shares. According to a spokesperson for Brin’s family office, roughly $1 billion in stock is going to Catalyst4, which the billionaire started in 2021 with the dual purpose of supporting research into central nervous system diseases and climate-change solutions. 

Brin is also giving about $90 million to his family foundation, the spokesperson said, as well as $45 million to the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which supports research into Parkinson’s disease. In May, Brin had previously doled out Alphabet shares worth $700 million to the same three charities.

 

 

Brin, 52, is the world’s fourth richest person, with a $255.5 billion fortune, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His net worth has soared this year thanks to a rally in Alphabet shares, which hit a high of $323 on Tuesday boosted by company’s artificial intelligence gains. Brin owns a roughly 6% aggregate stake of the business and has seen his fortune gain $97.3 billion this year so far.