Google Cofounders Lose Nearly $4 Billion As Shares Drop Following Alphabet's Earnings Report

(AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin lost a combined $3.8 billion dollars in after-hours trading on Thursday after Alphabet, Google’s parent company, reported its first quarter earnings and missed analysts’ forecasts. Google stock fell more than 5% in after-hours trading.  The pair is currently worth a combined $72.1 billion as of 6:45 p.m. Eastern, down from a combined $75.9 billion as of the market’s close on Thursday.

Alphabet reported revenue of $20.26 billion in its first quarter, up 17% from the first quarter last year, but below the $20.37 billion forecast by analysts. Alphabet’s adjusted earnings of $7.50 per share also failed to meet analysts’ expectations of $7.69 per share. Following those misses, Google stock dropped more than 5% in after-hours trading.

Despite the drop, Page remains the 12th richest person in the world with a net worth estimated by Forbes of $36.5 billion. Brin, however, is now tied with France’s Bernard Arnault as the world’s 13th richest person after losing $1.9 billion after-hours on Thursday. Both Brin and Arnault currently have net worths of $35.6 billion.

Because Google stock accounts for the vast majority of Page and Brin’s net worths, small stock fluctuations have multi-billion dollar consequences for the cofounders’ fortunes. Overall, Page and Brin are doing just fine–the pair’s combined net worth is up 800% since the company went public in August 2004. Page and Brin first appeared on Forbes’ ranking of the 400 richest people in America in September 2004, each with a $4 billion fortune.

  Source: Forbes.com