On August 19, 2004, Google went public with an initial public offering (IPO) that valued the company at $23 billion. Over the past 21 years, Google's market capitalization has grown substantially, reaching approximately $2.5 trillion as of 2025. The company's cofounders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, expressed strong confidence in the Alphabet name and corporate purpose early on, choosing not to market test the name prior to the IPO. In December 2004, just four months after going public, both founders were featured on the cover of Fortune magazine. Google's growth has been remarkable compared to other tech giants; for instance, Apple became the first public company to surpass a $2 trillion market cap in 2020. A hypothetical $10,000 investment in Google at its IPO would be worth around $815,000 today, highlighting the company's long-term value appreciation.