Google's Brin's Father

Raising an Internet giant
Brin's father, a university professor, talks about his son's rise to fame
By Tom Howell
Staff writer

Prof. Michael Brin is father of Google co-founder Sergey Brin. PETER CASEY?THE DIAMONDBACK
When it seemed everyone was talking about Google's stock hitting the market, it was the one thing university math professor Michael Brin absolutely could not discuss.

As the father of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Michael said he cannot comment on details of his son's company, but that he often encounters people who mention his son's success starting the popular search website.

He couldn't speak about the company at all last spring due to a Securities and Exchange Commission-imposed "quiet period" after Google announced it would go public by trading on the stock market.

But what he can tell is more than most know about the Google creator, a university student-turned-billionaire.

The Brin family moved from Moscow to the United States in 1979, and Michael has taught at the university for 25 years.

Meanwhile, his son has earned one billion dollars with Google and is ranked 552 in Forbes' 2004 list of richest individuals.

Before he attended the university in the early 1990s, Michael said his son loved computers.

"He was a normal kid, but he wanted to be around computers, starting with games and the old Commodore 64s (a computer model)," he said. "To this day I am almost computer illiterate because Sergey would do everything for me."

Sergey went to high school in Prince George's County, Brin said.

"He was very good at math," Michael Brin said. "In middle school they brought in a special teacher for him and some other students who were advanced."

Sergey Brin dropped out of high school about a year early, but the university was willing to enroll him.

"I never had him in one of my classes," Michael Brin said. "My colleagues said he was a good student."

Sergey Brin received a bachelor of science degree with honors in mathematics and computer science before going to Stanford University, where he met Google co-founder Larry Page.

"Sergey did not take many academic classes at Stanford," Brin said. "He already knew what he needed to know from his education at Maryland where he took graduate level courses."

At Stanford, Sergey Brin took classes such as gymnastics and sailing, his father said.

"I asked him if he was taking any advanced courses one semester," Michael Brin said. "He said 'Yes, advanced swimming.'"

Sergey Brin collaborated with fellow grad student Larry Page to develop the foundation for Google's technology in 1995. The pair converted Page's dorm room into a data center, while Brin's served as a business office.

"I was OK with it," Brin said. "He was interested in that."

The pair raised money for their search engine project and grew steadily for the next several years. Google moved into its current corporate headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. in 1999.

Google's initial public offering value decreased from an earlier announced price of $135 to $85 after a "Dutch auction," which gave investors a hand in setting the price of shares instead of relying on an investment bank for such work.

The decrease in IPO value means Google overestimated the demand for its shares, said Russ Wermers, an assistant professor at the business school.

"It means the company's founders are not going to have as much money," Wermers said. Despite the drop, he said the company will still bring in a decent haul.

"One of the major reasons for going public is to raise capital, he said. "It's a fast-growing company, and it is in pursuit of staying ahead of companies like Yahoo!"

Investors also stand to gain by including a big name like Google in their portfolio, Wermers said. Since Google's stock began trading on Aug. 22, the company has experienced moderate success.

"Individual investors may want to stay away from it because it's an expensive stock," he said.

Despite the success of his son, Michael Brin said his life has not changed much.

"My life has not changed at all," he said. "I will soon begin teaching my classes."