Sergey Brin was born in Moscow, Russia, in 1973. Both of his parents are graduates of Moscow State University. His father is a mathematics professor that the University of Maryland, his mother a researcher at NASA.
Brin’s family immigrated to the US when he was 6 years old. While his parents waited for their exit visas from Russia, Brin’s father taught himself some computer programming. Brin attended schools in Maryland, and in 1990, he enrolled at the University of Maryland to learn Computer Science. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree with honors. He began his graduate study in Computer Science at Stanford University. During an orientation for new students at Stanford, he met Larry Page. Although they disagreed on many subjects, they soon became intellectual close friends. Together Page and Brin authored a paper titled “The Anatomy of a Large Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine.” They began searching for cheap computers and crammed them into their dorm to test their new search engine design. The pair suspended their studies to do more work on their system.
Their resulting search engine has become the largest and most profitable search engine in the world, Google. Brin’s search engine dominates the online search market taking about 65 percent of the global market. Brin is now in charge of Google X, the secretive division of Google that focuses on more risky projects such as smart contact lenses, Google glasses, and self-driving cars.
Brin has a net worth of $31 billion as of the end of 2014. He owns a home in Los Altos, California which is currently valued at $7 million, and a house in Greenwich, valued at $8.5 million. Brin is also an investor in Airship Ventures as well as a private space travel company called Space Adventures. Google shows no sign of stopping its upward increase in value, so Brin is certain to earn more and increase his already staggering net worth.