Richest Americans - #5

Sergey Brin

Net Worth: $18.5 billion
Source: Google
Residence: Palo Alto, Calif.
Age: 34
Marital Status: Married

• With partner Larry Page, Google Guy cracks the top 10 of the Forbes 400; both were worth a mere $4 billion in 2004.
• Instaquadrupling outpaces early years of Bill Gates, Larry Ellison.
• Brin emigrated from Russia, Page grew up in Michigan; both sons of professors. Met in computer science Ph.D. program at Stanford; dropped out to start Google in 1998 from friend's garage.
• Initially financed by Stanford endowment, angel investors K. Ram Shriram, Andy von Bechtolsheim.
• Raised another $25 million from venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sequoia Capital in 1999.
• Hired seasoned tech exec Eric Schmidt in 2001 to run operations.
• Took quirky ad-cum-search engine public 2004; shares up 510% since.
• Sales: $10.5 billion, net margins 30%.
• Brin serves as president of technology, Page heads product division.
• Extending ad business into TV, cell phones, various online venues; bought Web video portal YouTube for $1.65 billion last year; recently partnered with EchoStar, LG Electronics, Salesforce.com.
• Switched Mountain View, Calif. headquarters to solar power this summer; part of plan to "do no evil."

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