Google vs PayPal: Founders, CEOs and History
Google was founded in 1998 by Larry Page, Sergey Brin and is led by Sundar Pichai. PayPal was founded in 1998 by Max Levchin, Peter Thiel, Luke Nosek and is led by Enrique Lores.
Company facts
Founders
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.
PayPal
Max Levchin
PayPal possesses arguably the most well-known, mythological, and influential founding story in the entire history of Silicon Valley, famously creating the 'PayPal Mafia', a concentrated group of effective, idiosyncratic founders who went on to literally build…
Peter Thiel
Peter Thiel served as an early strategic leader and CEO during the period when PayPal chose payments over broader online banking.
Luke Nosek
Luke Nosek co-founded Confinity with Max Levchin and Peter Thiel in 1998 and led marketing and strategy in PayPal's early years.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk founded X.com in 1999 as an online bank after selling Zip2. X.com merged with Confinity in March 2000, and Musk served as CEO of the combined company until the board replaced him with Peter Thiel later that year.
CEOs and their tenures
- 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
PayPal
- Alex Chriss2023–2026
President and Chief Executive Officer
Joined from Intuit in September 2023 after Dan Schulman. Margins and buybacks improved during his tenure, but branded checkout growth stayed slow, and the board replaced him with Enrique Lores effective March 1, 2026.
Source - Enrique Lores2026–present
President and Chief Executive Officer
Former HP Inc. CEO (2019-2026) and PayPal board chair; replaced Alex Chriss as CEO effective March 1, 2026. In his first full quarter (Q2 2026) PayPal beat estimates and raised full-year EPS guidance.
Source
Timeline: Google and PayPal side by side
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.
1998PayPal
Confinity Founded
PayPal traces its origins to Confinity and the early X.com online payments era.
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.
2002PayPal
IPO and eBay Acquisition
PayPal went public and was acquired by eBay in 2002.
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.
2013PayPal
Braintree Acquired
PayPal bought the payments company Braintree, which owned Venmo, in 2013 for about $800 million.
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.
2015PayPal
PayPal Spins Off From eBay
PayPal became an independent public company again in 2015.
2018PayPal
iZettle Acquired
PayPal acquired the Swedish point-of-sale company iZettle in 2018 for about $2.2 billion.
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.
2020PayPal
Acquired Honey
PayPal Holdings acquired Honey for $4 billion.
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.
2023PayPal
Alex Chriss becomes CEO
Alex Chriss became CEO of PayPal Holdings in 2023. Joined from Intuit in September 2023 after Dan Schulman.
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.
2025PayPal
$33.172B FY2025 Revenue
PayPal reported $33.172 billion of revenue and $5.233 billion of net income.
2026PayPal
Enrique Lores Named CEO
PayPal appointed Enrique Lores President and CEO effective March 1, 2026.
2026PayPal
Strategic Reorganization Announced
PayPal reorganized around checkout, consumer financial services, Venmo, payment services, and crypto.
2026PayPal
Q2 2026 Beat and Raised Guidance
Q2 2026 revenue rose 5% to $8.68 billion and TPV rose 10% to $486.4 billion; full-year non-GAAP EPS guidance was raised to about $5.38.
2026PayPal
Stripe and Advent Takeover Approach Ends
PayPal's board reportedly rejected a $60.50-per-share approach valuing it above $53 billion; the Stripe and Advent consortium dropped its pursuit on August 28, 2026.
Acquisitions
- Wiz2025$32B
- Mandiant2022$5.4B
- Fitbit2021$2.1B
- DeepMind2014$500M
- DoubleClick2008$3.1B
- YouTube2006$1.6B
PayPal
- Paidy2021$2.7B
- Honey2020$4B
- IZettle2018$2.2B
- Simility2018$120M
- Xoom2015$890M
- Braintree2013$800M
Questions about Google vs PayPal
Who is the CEO of Alphabet Inc. and PayPal Holdings, Inc.?
Alphabet Inc. is led by Sundar Pichai and PayPal Holdings, Inc. is led by Enrique Lores. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was Alphabet Inc. founded vs PayPal Holdings, Inc.?
Both Alphabet Inc. and PayPal Holdings, Inc. were founded in 1998, making them the same age.
How many employees does Alphabet Inc. have compared to PayPal Holdings, Inc.?
Alphabet Inc. employs approximately 190,820 people, while PayPal Holdings, Inc. employs approximately 23,800. Alphabet Inc. has the larger workforce at 190,820 employees, compared to PayPal Holdings, Inc.'s 23,800. A higher headcount does not necessarily imply greater efficiency — it often reflects differences in business model (e.g., manufacturing vs. software).
Where are Alphabet Inc. and PayPal Holdings, Inc. headquartered?
Both Alphabet Inc. and PayPal Holdings, Inc. are headquartered in United States, meaning they operate under the same primary regulatory and tax environment.
Who founded Alphabet Inc. and PayPal Holdings, Inc.?
Alphabet Inc. was founded by Larry Page, Sergey Brin. PayPal Holdings, Inc. was founded by Max Levchin, Peter Thiel, Luke Nosek, Elon Musk.
Which company has a longer operating history — Alphabet Inc. or PayPal Holdings, Inc.?
Alphabet Inc. has been operating for approximately 28 years, making it the more established of the two companies. PayPal Holdings, 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 Google vs PayPal overview