Tech

Sergey Brin

His family fled Soviet antisemitism when he was six; Google was incorporated to cash a $100K check.

Born: 1973 · Moscow, USSR
Roots: Russian Jewish; emigrated to the US at six
Family: Middle class; His mathematician father was blocked from a physics career by Soviet antisemitism; both parents rebuilt academic careers in Maryland.
Education: University of Maryland → Stanford (PhD program, on leave ever since)
Started with: $100K check; Andy Bechtolsheim's 1998 check, written to a company that did not yet exist.
Affiliations & societies: None documented.; Information only — claims like these are often unverifiable and may be wrong.

The pathway

1979 · age 6
Exit visa
The family leaves the USSR after a year in limbo; his father had taught himself to reapply as a mathematician.
1995 · age 21
Meets Larry Page
They argue through a Stanford orientation tour and end up research partners.
1996 · age 23
BackRub
The link-ranking crawler runs on Stanford's servers until it strains the network.
1998 · age 25
Google incorporates$100K
In Susan Wojcicki's garage — partly so the Bechtolsheim check could be deposited.
2004 · age 31
IPO$23B valuation
2019 · age 46
Steps back
Remains a board member and controlling shareholder of Alphabet.

Sources

Compiled from these references and contemporaneous press reporting. Figures are approximate; verify before relying on them.