Google vs Visa: Founders, CEOs and History
Google was founded in 1998 by Larry Page, Sergey Brin and is led by Sundar Pichai. Visa was founded in 1958 by Dee Hock and is led by Ryan McInerney.
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.
Visa
Dee Hock
Dee Hock (1929-2022) was the founding CEO of National BankAmericard Inc., the bank-owned company that took over the BankAmericard licensing system from Bank of America in 1970 and adopted the Visa name in 1976.
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
Visa
- Alfred F. Kelly Jr.2016–2023
Chief Executive Officer
Serving as CEO from 2016 to 2023, he heavily modernized the massive legacy network, aggressively integrating fintechs and preparing the network to process highly complex cryptocurrency transactions.
Source - Ryan McInerney2023–present
Chief Executive Officer
McInerney joined Visa in 2013 as president after senior roles at JPMorgan Chase and became chief executive on February 1, 2023, succeeding Alfred F. Kelly Jr.
Source
Timeline: Google and Visa side by side
1958Visa
BankAmericard launched
Bank of America launched BankAmericard, the direct predecessor to Visa.
1976Visa
Visa name adopted
The network adopted the Visa name to support international acceptance and brand consistency.
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.
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.
2008Visa
Visa IPO
Visa became a public company, changing the economics from a bank association structure to a shareholder-owned company.
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.
2016Visa
Alfred F. Kelly Jr. becomes CEO
Alfred F. Kelly Jr. became CEO of Visa in 2016. Chief executive of Visa from December 2016 to January 2023, when Ryan McInerney succeeded him; Kelly then served as executive chairman.
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.
2020Visa
Acquired Plaid (abandoned)
Visa acquired Plaid (abandoned) for $5.3 billion. Visa agreed in January 2020 to buy US data-connectivity fintech Plaid for USD 5.3 billion.
2022Visa
Tink acquisition
Visa completed its purchase of Stockholm-based open banking platform Tink in March 2022.
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.
2023Visa
Ryan McInerney becomes CEO
Ryan McInerney became Visa's CEO after serving as president.
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.
2025Visa
Revenue reaches $40.0B
Visa reported $40.0 billion in fiscal 2025 net revenue.
Acquisitions
- Wiz2025$32B
- Mandiant2022$5.4B
- Fitbit2021$2.1B
- DeepMind2014$500M
- DoubleClick2008$3.1B
- YouTube2006$1.6B
Questions about Google vs Visa
Who is the CEO of Alphabet Inc. and Visa Inc.?
Alphabet Inc. is led by Sundar Pichai and Visa Inc. is led by Ryan McInerney. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was Alphabet Inc. founded vs Visa Inc.?
Visa Inc. was founded in 1958 — 40 years before Alphabet Inc., which was founded in 1998. Visa 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 Alphabet Inc. have compared to Visa Inc.?
Alphabet Inc. employs approximately 190,820 people, while Visa Inc. employs approximately 34,100. Alphabet Inc. has the larger workforce at 190,820 employees, compared to Visa Inc.'s 34,100. 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 Visa Inc. headquartered?
Both Alphabet Inc. and Visa Inc. are headquartered in United States, meaning they operate under the same primary regulatory and tax environment.
Who founded Alphabet Inc. and Visa Inc.?
Alphabet Inc. was founded by Larry Page, Sergey Brin. Visa Inc. was founded by Dee Hock.
Which company has a longer operating history — Alphabet Inc. or Visa Inc.?
Visa Inc. has been operating for approximately 68 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 Google vs Visa overview