No. 18: Sergey Brin: Visionary, philanthropist, and pivotal digital-era architect

Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, is highlighted as a pivotal figure in the digital era. Born in Moscow, Brin immigrated to the U.S. in 1979 with his family, who fled Soviet antisemitism. He met Larry Page at Stanford University, where they developed the PageRank algorithm, leading to the founding of Google in 1998. Brin served as president of Alphabet until 2019 but re-engaged with Google in late 2023 to work hands-on with the Gemini AI effort, believing AI challenges are "among the greatest problems facing humanity." He is also a significant philanthropist, donating nearly $700 million in Alphabet stock in May 2025 and over $2 billion to Parkinson's research. As of 2026, Brin is among the top five richest people globally.