Canon vs Google: Founders, CEOs and History
Canon was founded in 1937 by Takeshi Mitarai, Goro Yoshida, Saburo Uchida and is led by Fujio Mitarai. Google was founded in 1998 by Larry Page, Sergey Brin and is led by Sundar Pichai.
Company facts
Founders
Canon
Takeshi Mitarai
Takeshi Mitarai supported the camera laboratory that Goro Yoshida, Saburo Uchida and Takeo Maeda opened in 1933, and became president of its successor, Precision Optical Industry, Co., Ltd., in 1942.
Goro Yoshida
Yoshida took apart a Leica Model II and, as he later recalled, was angered to find it was built from brass, aluminium, iron and rubber yet sold for 420 yen.
Saburo Uchida
Saburo Uchida (1899-1982) co-founded the Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory with Goro Yoshida, his brother-in-law, and Takeo Maeda in November 1933.
Takeo Maeda
Takeo Maeda (1909-1977) was the youngest of the founding group. A former subordinate of Saburo Uchida, he joined Uchida and Goro Yoshida in opening the Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory in Roppongi in November 1933 and worked on the Kwanon prototype and…
Larry Page
Google possesses arguably the most famous, influential founding story in the history of Silicon Valley, rooted in the academic environment of Stanford University and a foundational obsession with organizing all of human knowledge.
Sergey Brin
Sergey Brin co-founded Google and played a central role in the early engineering, product, and cultural development of the company. He helped build the search technology, recruit technical talent, and preserve a culture that valued bold experiments.
CEOs and their tenures
Canon
- Takeshi Mitarai1942–1974
President
An obstetrician who backed the 1933 camera laboratory, he became president of Precision Optical Industry in 1942 and led the company as it became Canon Camera Co. in 1947, listed in Tokyo in 1949 and opened sales offices in New York and Geneva in the 1950s.
Source - Ryuzaburo Kaku1977–1989
President, later Chairman
As President, he aggressively challenged Xerox's monopoly in the copier market by introducing affordable, personal laser printers and copiers.
Source - Fujio Mitarai1995–present
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Born in 1935 and a nephew of Takeshi Mitarai, he joined Canon in 1961, ran Canon U.S.A. as president from 1979 to 1989 and became president of Canon Inc. in 1995.
Source - Tsuneji Uchida2006–2012
President and Chief Operating Officer
During his tenure as President, he maintained strong profitability through strict cost-cutting measures despite the brutal collapse of the digital compact camera market.
Source - Masaya Maeda2016–2020
President and Chief Operating Officer
He led the Image Communication Products group during the height of the DSLR era, cementing Canon's position as the global market leader in interchangeable lens cameras.
Source - Kazuto Ogawa2026–present
President and Chief Operating Officer
Joined Canon in 1981 and led Canon Singapore (2005), Canon Canada (2008) and Canon U.S.A. as President and COO (2018).
Source
- Larry Page1998–2019
Co-founder and Former CEO
Larry Page is one of the most consequential technologists of the modern era. His initial algorithmic breakthrough organized the chaotic early internet, creating the essential infrastructure for the modern digital economy.
Source - Eric Schmidt2001–2011
Former CEO and Executive Chairman
Schmidt was the indispensable bridge between a chaotic academic research project and a globally dominant, publicly traded corporation.
Source - Sundar Pichai2015–present
CEO of Alphabet and Google
Pichai provides crucial corporate stability and pragmatic product leadership, transitioning Google from its chaotic early years into a profitable, mature corporate giant.
Source
Timeline: Canon and Google side by side
1933Canon
Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory opens
Goro Yoshida, Saburo Uchida and Takeo Maeda open a camera laboratory in a Roppongi apartment in Tokyo to build a Japanese 35mm camera that could rival the Leica.
1934Canon
Kwanon prototype
Yoshida builds the Kwanon, Japan's first 35mm focal-plane-shutter camera prototype, named after the Buddhist goddess of mercy. It never goes on sale.
1936Canon
Hansa Canon goes on sale
The lab's first commercial camera, the Hansa Canon, uses a Nikkor lens and rangefinder supplied by Nippon Kogaku, the predecessor of Nikon. The 'Canon' trademark had been filed in 1935.
1937Canon
Precision Optical Industry incorporated
The business is incorporated on August 10, 1937 as Precision Optical Industry, Co., Ltd. Takeshi Mitarai becomes president in 1942.
1949Canon
Tokyo Stock Exchange listing
Canon Camera Co. (renamed in 1947) lists on the Tokyo Stock Exchange when postwar trading resumes, and opens a New York branch in 1955.
1964Canon
Canola 130 calculator
Canon moves beyond cameras with the Canola 130 desktop electronic calculator, followed in 1970 by Japan's first plain-paper copier, the NP-1100, and its first semiconductor lithography tool, the PPC-1.
1969Canon
Renamed Canon Inc.
Canon Camera Co. changes its name to Canon Inc. to reflect a product range that now spans business machines as well as cameras.
1987Canon
EOS system launches
Canon launches the EOS 650 and the all-electronic EF lens mount, the base of its autofocus SLR and later digital SLR lines.
1995Canon
Fujio Mitarai becomes president
Fujio Mitarai takes over as president, exits personal computers and other loss-making lines, and in 1996 starts the Excellent Global Corporation Plan.
1998Google
Google Founded
Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google after developing PageRank at Stanford University. The search engine ranked web pages by link authority, which made results feel more relevant than portal-era competitors.
2000Google
AdWords Launch
Google launched AdWords in 2000 and connected advertising to search intent. Businesses could pay to appear near relevant queries, eventually through auction-based performance advertising.
2003Canon
Start of No. 1 camera share run
Canon takes the No. 1 share of the global interchangeable-lens digital camera market, a position it has held every year through 2025.
2004Google
Google IPO
Google went public in 2004 using an auction process and priced 19,605,052 shares at $85, raising about $1.67B. The IPO gave the company capital for hiring, data centers, acquisitions, and global expansion.
2005Google
Android Acquisition
Google acquired Android in 2005 to secure a role in mobile operating systems before smartphones became the main internet device. Android later gave Google global reach through manufacturers such as Samsung and many others.
2006Google
YouTube Acquisition
Google closed the YouTube acquisition in 2006 for stock valued at $1.65B. The deal gave Google a user-generated video platform, creator ecosystem, and advertising surface outside text search before online video had a mature business model.
2008Google
DoubleClick Acquisition
Google acquired DoubleClick for $3.1B to expand its advertising infrastructure beyond search. The deal strengthened display advertising, ad serving, and publisher relationships. It helped Google build a broader ad-tech stack.
2014Google
DeepMind Acquisition
Google acquired DeepMind in 2014 to deepen its artificial intelligence research bench. DeepMind later became known for AlphaGo and other breakthroughs in reinforcement learning and scientific AI.
2015Google
Alphabet Restructuring
Google restructured into Alphabet Inc. In 2015, separating core Google from Other Bets. The move gave investors clearer visibility into Search, YouTube, Android, and Cloud economics while preserving room for Waymo, Verily, Calico, and X.
2016Canon
Toshiba Medical acquisition
Canon completes the ¥665.5 billion (about $5.9 billion) purchase of Toshiba Medical Systems in December 2016, later renamed Canon Medical Systems.
2018Canon
EOS R mirrorless system
Canon launches the full-frame EOS R mirrorless system and RF lens mount.
2019Google
Sundar Pichai Becomes Alphabet CEO
Sundar Pichai became CEO of Alphabet in 2019 after Larry Page and Sergey Brin stepped back from daily operations. Pichai inherited a company facing cloud competition, antitrust scrutiny, privacy pressure, and rising AI expectations.
2023Canon
Nanoimprint lithography launch
Canon releases the FPA-1200NZ2C nanoimprint lithography system in October 2023, able to pattern 14 nm lines, and delists its ADRs from the New York Stock Exchange in March.
2023Google
Google DeepMind Integration
Alphabet combined major AI research efforts under Google DeepMind to accelerate frontier model development. The move followed competitive pressure from OpenAI and Microsoft.
2024Canon
First NIL shipment and medical impairment
Canon ships its first nanoimprint system to the Texas Institute for Electronics on September 26, 2024, and books a ~$1.11 billion (¥165.1 billion) goodwill impairment on its medical business for the year.
2025Canon
Record net sales of ~$31 billion (¥4,624.7 billion)
Canon reports record 2025 net sales of ~$31 billion (¥4,624.7 billion) and net income attributable to Canon Inc. of ~$2.23 billion (¥332.1 billion).
2025Google
FY2025 Revenue Tops $402B
Alphabet reported FY2025 revenue of $402.836B and net income of $132.170B. The milestone showed that Search ads, YouTube, Cloud, and subscriptions kept scaling despite regulatory and AI disruption concerns.
2026Canon
Phase VII plan and new president
Canon unveils its 2026-2030 Phase VII plan, merges Canon Medical's operations into Canon Inc. on April 1, and appoints Kazuto Ogawa President and COO on March 27 while Fujio Mitarai stays Chairman and CEO.
Acquisitions
Canon
- Canon Electronics (minority shares)2026Undisclosed
- Redlen Technologies2021$335M
- BriefCam2018Undisclosed
- Kite2017Undisclosed
- Toshiba Medical Systems2016$5.9B
- Axis Communications2015$2.8B
- Wiz2025$32B
- Mandiant2022$5.4B
- Fitbit2021$2.1B
- DeepMind2014$500M
- DoubleClick2008$3.1B
- YouTube2006$1.6B
Questions about Canon vs Google
Who is the CEO of Canon Inc. and Alphabet Inc.?
Canon Inc. is led by Fujio Mitarai and Alphabet Inc. is led by Sundar Pichai. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was Canon Inc. founded vs Alphabet Inc.?
Canon Inc. was founded in 1937 — 61 years before Alphabet Inc., which was founded in 1998. Canon Inc.'s longer operating history gives it a deeper track record but also potentially more institutional inertia compared to the younger Alphabet Inc..
How many employees does Canon Inc. have compared to Alphabet Inc.?
Canon Inc. employs approximately 165,547 people, while Alphabet Inc. employs approximately 190,820. Alphabet Inc. has the larger workforce at 190,820 employees, compared to Canon Inc.'s 165,547. A higher headcount does not necessarily imply greater efficiency — it often reflects differences in business model (e.g., manufacturing vs. software).
Where are Canon Inc. and Alphabet Inc. headquartered?
Canon Inc. is headquartered in Japan and Alphabet Inc. is headquartered in United States. Their different home markets mean they may face different regulatory frameworks, tax regimes, and currency exposure.
Who founded Canon Inc. and Alphabet Inc.?
Canon Inc. was founded by Takeshi Mitarai, Goro Yoshida, Saburo Uchida, Takeo Maeda. Alphabet Inc. was founded by Larry Page, Sergey Brin.
Which company has a longer operating history — Canon Inc. or Alphabet Inc.?
Canon Inc. has been operating for approximately 89 years, making it the more established of the two companies. Alphabet Inc. has been in operation for around 28 years. A longer operating history often signals greater institutional resilience and brand recognition, though it can also mean slower adaptation to new market conditions.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Canon vs Google overview