Sergey Brin
Russian-American
Computer Scientist + Co-founder, Google + President, Alphabet
Instagram: @sergeybrinofficial
Sergey Brin is one of two men behind the world's most popular search engine, Google. Born in the Soviet Union (now Russia) to Russian-Jewish parents, Sergey's destiny would begin when his family escaped anti-Semitism by receiving official exit visas to leave the country when he was only 6 years old. So even with this second chance at life, no one ever imagined that this new path would create one of the greatest computer scientists and internet entrepreneurs of our time.
Settling in Adelphi, Maryland, Sergey's father, a mathematics professor at the university of Maryland, encouraged him to learn mathematics. He listened to the advice, enrolled at the university of Maryland when he came of age, and graduated with honors in computer science and mathematics in 1993.
After graduation, Sergey continued on his quest for knowledge by starting his graduate studies in computer science at Stanford University on a graduate fellowship from the National Science Foundation. And it was at an orientation for new students, Sergey met Larry Page, who would become his friend and future business partner.
They both worked tirelessly to create a web search engine during their studies, and launched Google, Inc. in 1998 before completing their master's degree. The pair would go on to start their PhD program in computer science at Stanford, but quickly realized Google's potential was so vast, that they had to suspend their studies – the rest is history.
Interesting fact: with the help of his family, Sergey was able to retain his Russian-language skills.